IMF expects Hungarian economy to grow at third fastest rate in EU this year

The Hungarian economy is expected to grow at the third fastest rate in the European Union this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirmed in its revised forecast for regional growth.

As a result, Hungary’s gross domestic product will grow 7.6% this year, following a 5% decline in 2020.

This figure is in line with the latest IMF World Economic Outlook released on October 12 and is 3.3 percentage points higher than forecast released in April’s WEO.

With this rate, Hungary will be ahead of only Ireland (13%) and Estonia (8.5%) within the European Union.

The Hungarian economy is forecast to grow by 5.1% in 2022 and 3.8% in 2023.

Finance Minister predicts 7% GDP growth for 2021

The deficit is expected to reach 7.5% of GDP, said Mihály Varga. The government expects inflation to start falling from early 2022 and will see the situation “normalize” by summer 2022. Continue reading

The IMF also confirmed its inflation forecast of 4.5% for this year, which would exceed last year’s rate by 1.2 percentage points. He puts the average annual inflation for 2022 at 3.6% and for 2023 at 3.3%.

In the pictured photo: IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. Photo by MTI / EPA-KEYSTONE / Alessandro Della Valle