Page 5 - bne_newspaper_August_17_2018

The Regions This Week
August 17, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 5
Central Europe
Polish GDP growth pushed to a seasonally ad- justed 5% y/y in the second quarter, a flash es- timate released by the Central Statistical Office GUS on August 14 showed.
Poland recorded a trade deficit of PLN5.2bn (€1.2bn) in January-June, statistics office GUS reported. The deficit at the end of June is 23.8% wider than at the end of June 2017. Imports grow- ing faster than exports – a sign of growing invest- ment.
Poland’s current account showed a deficit of just over PLN1bn (€24mn) in June, a changeover from the surplus recorded in the previous month but a major reduction of the deficit in annual terms, the National Bank of Poland (NBP) an- nounced.
Polish wages grew 7.1% y/y in the second quar- ter, resulting in an average gross monthly pay packet of PLN4,521.1 (€1,058), according to data released by statistics office.
Hungarian GDP growth slowed to adjusted 4.4% y/y in the second quarter, according to statistics office KSH. The expansion in the second quarter likely came on the back of strong private demand, recovering investment and activity in the Euro- zone, the source of the majority of export demand.
Hungarian industrial output expanded 4.2% y/y in June, the Central Statistics Office (KSH) said. The reading confirms the first estimate of output in the industrial sector, released last week. In working day adjusted terms, production expanded 3.1% y/y. Month to month, output declined sea- sonally.
Hungary's state debt manager AKK sold a com- bined HUF61.5bn (€187mn) of bonds at auctions on August 16, HUF6.5bn more than planned but
at higher costs as yields moved up from the last auction two weeks ago. Jitters over Turkey's fall- ing currency have weighted on bond prices and local currencies across Central Europe. The forint weakened to 325 versus the euro on this week and bond prices were also on a rollercoaster.
Hungary's biggest lender, OTP, reported an after-tax profit of HUF89.5bn (€277.4mn) in Q2, up 11% y/y as business volume grew and its for- eign subsidiaries beat expectations, the bank said. Earnings outperformed the HUF81.3bn estimate by Hungarian analysts. Earnings per share (EPS) came to HUF342 for the period.
The Czech koruna has weakened against both dollar and euro on the back of the Turkish crisis fears. On August 16, the koruna dropped by nine halers to 25.81 against euro and by 21 halers to 22.82 against the dollar.
Czech banks are experiencing a very successful year driven mostly by households’ demand for mortgages. In the first half of 2018, banks made a profit of CZK43.30bn (€1.7bn), which was CZK600mn more annually, according to Czech National Bank (CNB) -- the second highest in Czech history.
Polish demand for mortgage loans grew 20% y/y in July, the Credit Information Bureau (BIK) re- ported. The growth comes 2.8pp above the annual expansion rate recorded in June. The healthy in- terest in mortgages is underpinned by the strong Polish economy and tightening labour market, which is driving up wages.
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