Inflation may pose a real threat for countries in Central & Eastern Europe (CEE), specifically for Poland and Hungary, which are facing post-pandemic economic pressures. That’s why their economies do not appear as shiny as they used to. Hungary saw a recent inflation rate of 5.1%, while Poland’s hit 4.4% in June.
Whether such price pressures will be sustained remains to be seen, but such rates exceed those countries’ central bank midpoint inflationary targets: 2.5% for Poland and 3% for Hungary. Meanwhile, year-on-year wages have gone up by 10.6% in Hungary and 7.8% in Poland, which economists attribute to labor shortages in both countries.
Some analysts believe that those CEE economies could see sustained inflation for a longer period, followed by a tightening of their governments’ monetary policies. Hungary’s central bank had not made an interest rate hike in 10 years, but in June set it 30 basis points higher, to 0.9%; Poland’s central bank governor, meanwhile, says there are no plans for a rate hike there.
Source: FT
Teltonika has announced it is halting the construction of its EUR 3.5bn High-Tech Hill park…
Hungary’s electricity market has become a focal point for speculative trading, driven by a combination…
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is a rising force in artificial intelligence (AI) and startups…
The European Commission (EC) analyses the accession prospects of all ten prospective members of the…
As Donald Trump officially declared his victory in the US election, he received congratulations from…
European leaders committed to developing a defence industry base and enhancing EU competitiveness at an…