Hungary
Hungary announces two-week curfew to stem the spread of coronavirus
Hungarians are only allowed to leave their homes to go to work or to run essential errands, PM Viktor Orban announces, as virus reaches the community transmission stage.
Hungary's media authority awards 5G licenses for €350mn
The auction, which took place amid extraordinary safety measures, allocated concessions that will run until 2035 and can be expanded by another five years with unchanged conditions.
Doubts cast over Hungarian central bank's bullish economic forecasts
The Hungarian National Bank projects a growth slowdown, but still expects Hungary to perform better than eurozone countries. Most analysts take a gloomier view and forecast a recession.
CEE hotel deals put on hold amid coronavirus pandemic
After a vintage 2019, almost €2bn worth of deals were expected to close in the hotel sectors of six Central and Southeast European countries this year, but these are looking increasingly unlikely to complete, says a report from law firm CMS.
IIF forecasts a contraction of -1.4% in CEE, -1.3% in Russia, but Turkish growth remains in the black in 2020
The Institute of International Finance (IIF) released updated forecasts for economic growth this year for the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries that show a sharp slowdown in 2020 and all except Turkey will return negative results.
Is the pace of outflows from EMs starting to slow?
Equity and bond markets have been rocked by record volumes of outflows since the end of February in one of the biggest sell offs ever, but the pace of selling seems to be slowing in the last few days, said the Institute of International Finance (IIF)
Capital Economics slashes CEE growth forecasts for 2020 to -2% y/y
Economic consultancy Capital Economics has slashed its growth forecast for the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) to a 2% y/y contractions from the previous 2.3% expansion in 2020, as a result of the coronavirus.
Economic think tank sees Hungarian economy plunging 20% in Q2
Economy to be dragged down by to the almost complete shutdown in the service sector and suspension of production in the vehicle industry, says a forecast by GKI.
Wizz Air operating at 15% capacity
Grounding the entire fleet remains a distinct possibility, but CEE's biggest low cost carrier says it is confident it can survive even a prolonged grounding.
Citizens fear unscrupulous leaders will take advantage of lockdowns
Restricting social interaction is a vital part of the efforts to delay the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, but in some countries people fear politicians will use the opportunity for their own ends.
Hungarian government submits bill to extend state of emergency
Despite a recent hike in coronavirus cases, the bill is not supported by opposition parties that voiced concern about granting the cabinet special powers for an indefinite length of time.
Coronavirus crisis to widen rich/poor gap within Central and Eastern Europe
Convergence to be reversed as the economic crisis resulting from the coronavirus pandemic is set to be deeper and longer in the CIS, Ukraine, Turkey and the Western Balkans than in the EU member states of Central and Southeast Europe.
THE MITTELEUROPEAN VIEW: Looking for LUV — what shape will Europe’s recovery from this existential crisis be?
There is a new acronym in the economists' lexicon: VUCA. It is short for “Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous” as pundits are struggling to explain a crisis that is coming at us from all sides simultaneously.
Hungarian researchers isolate coronavirus
Researchers at Hungary’s National Centre for Public Health successfully isolated the new coronavirus, a breakthrough that will allow scientists to begin developing a vaccine against the virus.
wiiw slashes 2020 growth forecast for CESEE to just 1.1%
Vienna-based think tank expects the coronavirus pandemic to result in the worst year for the region since the global financial crisis.
Hungary closes borders, shops as country braces for surge in new coronavirus cases
PM Viktor Orban said the pandemic will have grave economic consequences and warned of a serious wave of unemployment.
Hungary adopts new measures to curb spread of coronavirus as first death reported
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban suggested emergency measures could be in place for months.
Hungary could dip into recession warns finance minister
In the 2020 budget the government set a 4% growth target but now we cannot exclude a 0.3% decline, Finance Minister Mihaly Varga said.
Hungary's online retail sales expand 16% in 2019
Online gross domestic retail sales continued to grow at a dynamic pace in Hungary, reaching €1.85bn in 2019, according to a survey by economic researcher GKI Digital and price comparison site Arukereso.hu.
Hungary takes unprecedented measures to fight the spread of coronavirus
Hungary's government declared a state of emergency that will entail travel bans, border control, the closure of cinemas and theatres, and the cancellation of public events until further notice.