Page 68 - bne magazine September 2023

68 I New Europe in Numbers bne September 2023
Hungary GDP growth y/y
Hungary’s economic problems mount as GDP falls for fourth straight quarter
Hungary's economy remained in recession in Q2, as GDP fell 0.3% q/q and 2.4% (chart) on an annual basis, the statistics office KSH
said in a preliminary reading on August 16. The fourth consecutive quarterly contraction is the longest since KSH began using its current methodology in 1995.
The annualised data was the weakest since the end of 2020. The workday-adjusted GDP fell 2.3% y/y. The data significantly missed projections, as analysts predicted a 1.3% y/y decline and a 0.3% growth on a quarterly basis. In the first half, GDP fell 1.7% y/y.
Slovak inflation is in single digits after nearly a year and a half
Slovak inflation fell to 9.7% year-on-year in July, the country’s Statistical Office reported.
It fell below the 10% y-o-y growth for the first time since February 2022. In month-on-month terms, inflation decreased by 0.3%, which is the second m-o-m decrease this year. Slovakia is a eurozone country, and its inflation still remains nearly twice as high as the eurozone average of some 5%.
Ruble drops to below RUB100 to the dollar for the first time since the start of the Ukraine war
The Russian ruble dropped below RUB100 to the dollar on August 14 for the first time since the war in Ukraine began. The fall comes despite the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) announcement last week that it would suspend the so-called budget rule and would not purchase foreign currency again for the rest of this year in an effort to shore up the battered currency.
Russia's currency has lost a quarter of its value this year against the dollar this year, making it one of the worst-performing emerging- market currencies in the world, on a par with the Turkish lira and the Argentine peso.
Ukraine's inflation rate dropped to 11.3% in July
Inflation in Ukraine decreased to 11.3% in July, down from 12.8% in June and 15.3% in May, the State Statistics Service reported on August 9.
The biggest improvements were seen in restaurants and hotels at 18.5%, compared with 19.1% in June, miscellaneous goods at 15.7% against 18.8%, housing and utilities at 14.7% compared with 15.2%, as well as food and non-alcoholic beverages at 13.3% compared with 16.5%.
The consumer price index (CPI) decreased by 0.6%, easing from a 0.8% increase in June. Underlying inflation was recorded at zero, following deflation of 0.1% in June and 0.3% in May.
Source: Hungary state statistics agency
Slovak inflation y/y
Source: Central bank of Slovakia
Russia RUB vs USD
Source: CBR
Ukraine inflation y/y
Source: UAH
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