Hungary consumer confidence improves in Q2

Although consumer confidence in Hungary rose in the Q2 of 2008, households Purchasing Propensity Index shows a decreasing tendency and reached its second lowest value since 2002, a survey by GfK Hungary shows.

The GfK Hungaria consumer-confidence
index rose 4.3 points to 147.1 in Q2 compared to Q1. Gfk’s
Consumer Outlook improved 11.2 points to 162.5. GfK Hungaria’s
Purchasing Propensity Index fell to 129.9 points in Q2 from 133.3 in
Q1, reaching its second lowest level since 2002.
About 93% of consumers said they
expected prices to rise, an increase of 6 percentage points from Q1.
Consumers put consumer price inflation at 10.8%, down from their
11.7% estimate in Q1.
Hungary’s twelve-month consumer
inflation was 7.0% in May, the latest available figures show. About
51% of consumers said they thought Hungary’s unemployment rate
would rise. About 59% said they expected real wages to increase less
than inflation in the next few years. A total of 24% expect real
wages to rise in line with inflation and 7% expect a higher rise in
real wages. A total of 23% of households do not have any savings.