Hungary and Poland will achieve the highest GDP growth in the Central and Eastern European region this year, according to the World Economic Outlook (WEO) published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
However, growth will be lower than the October 2021 forecast. The IMF expects Hungary’s GDP to grow by 3.7% this year and 3.6% in 2023. In October, the IMF forecast a GDP growth of 5.1% in 2022. Inflation could reach 10.3% this year after 5.1% last year, up from 3.6% forecast in October. In the coming year, annual inflation could slow to 6.4%. The unemployment rate will rise to 4.3% this year from 4.1% in 2021 and fall to 4.2% in 2023.
The International Monetary Fund has lowered its forecast for global economic growth this year to 3.6%. For the euro zone, GDP growth of just 2.8% is expected this year. The main reason is the consequences of the Ukraine war.