Contents:

• Internet usage among Hungarian SMEs
• Growth in the Eurozone after the 2008 crisis – theoretical aspects
• International trends

In the following short analysis the Institute for Economic and Enterprise Research (IEER) examines the factors determining corporate borrowing and willingness to invest in Hungary. In the recent years several policies aimed to stimulate borrowing activity among Hungarian companies such as the reduction and the continuously low level of the central bank’s base rate or the Growth Loan program announced by the Hungarian National Bank. In our analysis three factors influencing the willingness to invest are examined: (i) interest margin and the development of interest rate environment, (ii) the quality of institutional and regulatory environment and (iii) the business climate and expectations of companies. Despite the policies implemented by the Hungarian National Bank interest margin is relatively high in Hungary in regional comparison making it difficult for companies to access financial resources. The uncertainty of institutional environment can make market players cautious as well. Business climate however, shows positive prospects, which means that business outlook does not explain the low demand for loans. In the future the reduction of interest margin, the improvement of institutional environment and competitiveness could have a positive effect on corporate borrowing and investments.

In its analysis the Institute for Economic and Enterprise Research examined the practices relating to internet usage among domestic small and medium sized companies. The analysis is based on the data of the January 2017 SME Outlook survey of 300 small and medium enterprises that have at least 20 employees. Beside the most general uses (maintaining contact with clients, maintaining an own website, administration) the Hungarian SMEs mostly use the internet to seek information. Among larger companies, among those that have foreign ownership, and among those of the commerce and manufacturing sector internet usage is more prevalent than in the case of other types of companies. 84 percent of the SMEs have an own website and these are mainly maintained by a professional. A clear evidence of the importance of internet usage among domestic companies is that 90 percent of them claim that if the internet did not work at their company for a week, it would mean a serious problem for the functioning of their businesses. At the same time however, most of the responding companies invest less than 1 percent of their income in purchasing and maintaining IT devices.