Increase slow down by external trade

According to KSH (Central Statistic Office of Hungary) in May 2008 the exports were up by 2, the imports by 4 percent as compared to the same month in the previous year.

In the first 5 months of the year, the volume of exports grew by 11, that of imports by 10 percent.  The trade balance showed a surplus of
HUF 93 billion (EUR 368 million) which meant an improvement of HUF
169 billion (EUR 671 million) compared to the deficit of HUF 76
billion (EUR 303 million) in January–May 2007.

In the first five months of the year,
the forint price level of exports and imports grew by 1.5 and 2.4 percent respectively, thus the
terms of trade deteriorated by 0.9 percent. The forint exchange rate
– despite the revaluation in May – remained unchanged compared to
the main currencies as a whole; in relation to Euro our currency
devaluated by 2 percent, while the revaluation compared to dollar was
11 percent.

In the category of machinery and
transport equipment the volume of exports and imports – notwithstanding the slackening growth
in May (in exports 3, in imports 7 percent) – increased by 13 and
14 percent, respectively. At current HUF prices, the most significant
increase both in exports and imports was registered for
telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and
equipment.

However, the exports of road vehicles,
counting for about 20 percent of our machinery exports, rose below the average, by 12 percent, while
imports grew above the average, by 16 percent. The exports of power
generating machinery and equipment, including car engines as well,
were only 5 percent more than in the first five months of 2007. For the manufactured goods, the export
and import volume – despite the stagnation in exports and a 2 percent decrease in imports in
May – increased in the whole period by 9 and 5 percent, respectively. Among the most
determinant export products, the HUF value of medical and
pharmaceutical products, iron and steel and rubber manufactures rose
above the average, by 23, 35 and 29 percent, respectively. The export
value of rubber manufactures came up to HUF 100 billion.

In May 2008, the import volume of fuels
and electric energy rose by 8 percent, while the export volume expanded by 59 percent. For the
period of January-May 2008, the import volume was up by 12 percent,
while that of exports by 36 percent as compared to the same of period
of the previous year.

Within this, the import volume of
petroleum, petroleum products and related materials grew by 12 percent and the exports expanded by 38
percent. In the first five months of 2008, the import volume of
natural and manufactured gas grew by 14 percent compared to the same
period of 2007, while in May the volume of gas imports remained
unchanged.

In January-May 2008 the export volume
of food, beverages and tobacco decreased by 8 percent, while that of imports rose by 6
percent. However, in forint terms their values, parallel with a
significant increase (23 and 12 percent) of export and import price
level, were up by 12 and 19 percent, respectively.

In the first five months of 2008, the
intra-EU export volume increased by 9 percent, while the import volume grew by 5 percent. In the
period as a whole, the volume of exports for new member states
continued to expand more dynamically (23 percent) than that for the
EU-15 (5 percent). However, in imports the volume growth was similar
for both groups of countries, 5 and 7 percent, respectively. In
conformity with the tendency of the previous months, the surplus of
trade balance continued to improve, and in January-May 2008 it
increased by HUF 260 billion up to HUF 780 billion.

In January-May 2008, for extra-EU trade
the export volume increased by 17 percent, while that of imports expanded by 23 percent. In
May, the volume of exports grew by 4 percent and that of imports was
up by 21 percent. During the first five months of the year, the trade
deficit amounted to HUF 691 billion which is by HUF 90 billion more
than in the same period of the previous year. The balance with the
Asian countries continued to deteriorate and the deficit increased by
HUF 140 billion up to more than HUF 870 billion, while our trade
balance with extra-EU European countries showed a surplus of HUF
nearly 11 billion.