According to preliminary statistics data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO, or KSH in Hungarian), seasonally and calendar-adjusted gross domestic product fell by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the same period last year, but compared to the previous quarter a 0.7% increase was observed.

Indicators pertaining to the current situation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) showed a consistent picture for the first quarter of 2013. Compared to the previous quarter, current situation indicators had all increased slightly. Expectations for the next year don't reflect this optimism, however; particularly evident is the sharp decline in expected investment activity.

The overall effect of these contradictory results has led the SME Business Climate Index to idle after experiencing a strong rise during the previous survey; although the value is still rising, it's at a much slower rate than in the previous quarter. The Uncertainty Index declined somewhat; in other words, a decline can be seen in the diversity of opinions of SME assessments toward their current and expected business situations.

The share of small and medium-sized enterprises with bank loans has been steadily declining since October 2011; its current value is at 62%. In terms of loan type, it can be stated that firms are still mostly indebted in HUF. The proportion of business loans in Euros and Swiss francs has declined significantly since April 2012, and currently represents 25% and 1.1% respectively of all SME loans.

During the past half year 17% of the businesses surveyed inquired at a bank about the possibility of borrowing money, which is a rate two percentage points lower than in April 2012.

On the following link an English summary of the paper can be downloaded.