Hungary posts slight growth for second quarter running

Hungary's economy grew in the second quarter for the second period running and for the first time since early 2012 on an annual basis, but weakly, preliminary official data showed on Wednesday. On a quarterly basis, gross domestic product (GDP) grew 0.1 percent after 0.6 percent in the first quarter, when Hungary exited recession with growth outperforming many other eastern and central European economies. The first-quarter figure was revised down from a preliminary figure of 0.7 percent. Second-quarter GDP rose by 0.5 percent year-on-year compared to a contraction of 0.9 percent in the first quarter, it added, the first annual increase since the first quarter of 2012. EU member Hungary's GDP fell by 1.7 percent overall in 2012, down from 1.3 and 1.6 percent increases in 2010 and 2011 respectively. The government forecasts annual growth of 0.7 percent in 2013 although the European Commission forecasts just 0.2 percent growth. The increase, which was slightly lower than expected by analysts, was due to growth in the agricultural and construction sectors, KSH said. Hungary's industrial output dipped in June by 0.6-percent year-on-year, KSH also reported Wednesday, the second consecutive monthly slide after a 2.9-percent rise in April ended an eight-month decline. Final first-quarter GDP figures will be released on September 4, KSH said.