Hungary's investments decrease in Q1

The volume of investments in Hungary's national economy decreased by 4.5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2015, the Hungarian Central Statistics Office announced on Thursday.

During the first quarter, investments totalled about 816.5 billion forints (2.9 billion U.S. dollars). According to seasonally adjusted volume indices, investments fell down by 1.1 percent in comparison with the previous quarter.

Investments in manufacturing, wich took the lion's share, only increased by 0.2 percent. Investments decreased in the rest of the sections except for a few smaller sections.

Investments in machinery and equipment were 1.0 percent and construction investments 8.9 percent lower year-on-year in the first quarter.

The volume of investments in transportation and storage fell down by 8.3 percent year-on-year. The reason was the significant fall in railway and motorway constructions, in the development of city transport networks, and in the modernization of vehicle stocks, according to the Hungarian Central Statistics Office.

Out of sections representing relatively low shares, investments were down 32 percent in financial and insurance activities, down 29 percent in human health and social work activities, down 26 percent in education and down 15 percent in administrative and support service activities.

However, investments rose 28 percent in water supply, sewerage and waste management and 15 percent in electricity, gas and steam supply. (1 U.S. dollar = 282.54 forints) Endit