Contents:

• Late payment and circular debt in Hungary
• The economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic amongst Hungarian enterprises – Capacity utilisation, liquidity, wages and consumer prices
• International trends

HCIC’s Institute for Economic and Enterprise Research (IEER) recently examined the effects the COVID-19 pandemic exerted on the economy. This time, the main focus is on capacity utilisation, financial reserves, employee numbers and changes in salaries and consumer prices. Domestic and foreign sales prices were taken from IEER’s Business Climate Surveys taken in the previous 31 waves (2005–2020), while the rest of the data used in this paper originate from the most recent survey conducted by IEER in April 2020 involving 2891 Hungarian companies. Records were taken between 1 April and 30 April 2020, during the period of COVID-19–related restrictions, so first impressions of the pandemic and the ensuing economic lockdown had a profound impact on our results. The aim of IEER’s Business Climate Survey was to map the CEO respondents’ short–term expectations based on their subjective judgement and information available to them at the time the survey was conducted.

Contents:

• The findings of IEER's July 2020 Quarterly Business Climate Survey
• GDP and employment flash estimates for the second quarter of 2020
• International trends

In the article below by the Institute of Economic and Enterprise Research (IEER), we examine the obstacles hampering the business activity of enterprises in Hungary, the corporate reactions and crisis management tools countering the economic effects of the pandemic and the impact of measures introduced by the state. In the case of obstacles hampering the business activity of enterprises in Hungary, the data originates from last four waves of the half-annual IEER Business Climate Survey; concerning the other chapters data is from the latest wave of the same research: in April 2020, altogether 2891 enterprises were surveyed on the subject. The data collection took place between 1st of April and 30th of April, in the period when lockdown and curfew measures were imposed against the effects of the pandemic.

Contents:

• How the COVID-19 pandemic affected the functioning of companies
• Labour market measures in Europe addressing the effects of the coronavirus pandemic
• International trends

Contents:

• Implementation of crisis management measures - Corporate reactions countering the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

• International trends

Based on the updated District Development Index (JFM_19) of HCCI IEER (MKIK GVI) we would like to give a better understanding of the development differences of the 174 Hungarian districts (járás). Unfortunately we cannot compare with the results of the previous studies since the Hungarian Central Statistical office (KSH) changed the methodology of some of the used measures and discontinued others.

Altogether the new index also indicates that the most developed districts almost exclusively are the capital and its agglomeration and of West and Central Transdanubia. It is quite interesting that according to the new calculation (JFM_19) Győr district has the highest development and is ahead of Budapest, which has worse business related and higher long term unemployment rates. Out of all the other (NUTS2) regions only the districts of bigger cities are in the top 25 (Kecskemét, Pécs, Debrecen, Nyíregyháza).

Contents:

• Business situation worsens, companies expect recession - Results of the IEER Business Climate Survey of April 2020
• Economic outlook of Europe in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic
• International trends

In this analysis of HCIC’s Institute for Economic and Enterprise Research (IEER) based on EC and IMF data, we present, how the novel coronavirus pandemic is expected to affect the economic situation of the EU member countries. As part of public health considerations, major containment and lockdown measures were introduced all across EU countries. This has put the EU economy to a halt – although the rate of the slowing down differs among member states – a -7,4% growth rate is forecasted for the region. Although this is followed by a return at least of circa 5% in 2021, the GDP will not reach its pre-pandemic forecasted levels. According to predictions, Hungary will have a milder slump in, with a -3,1% of real GDP change.

HCIC’s Institute for Economic and Enterprise Research (IEER) analysed Hungarian companies’ borrowing habits and experiences. The data analysed here originate from the quarterly business climate surveys conducted by IEER focusing on perceived business loan eligibility requirements (16 times since October 2011) and on the types of loans taken out (18 times since October 2011). In this matter a total of 7129 Hungarian companies were surveyed. Below we shall present the results of the most recent quarterly business climate survey (January 2020) put into context by a timeline of the past decade’s credit trends in the second part of our analysis.