The Economic Ministry in Hungary has revised predictions for annual economic growth upwards from a previously forecast 0.2 per cent contraction.

According to the government department, it is now anticipating gross domestic product (GDP) expansion of 0.6 per cent during 2010, the Budapest Business Journal reports.

First quarter growth was better than expected, with industrial sectors recovering in the wake of the global downturn, while the business sector generated new jobs during May this year for the first time in over one-and-a-half years.

Based on macroeconomic data, the latest projection reflects increasing optimism among businesses and higher export and import expectations for the rest of the year, with domestic and household consumption also forecast to contract at a slower rate than previously thought.

The European Union nation has an estimated population of around ten million and covers 93,000 sq km to the east of Austria, also sharing borders with Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Ukraine and Slovakia.

Posted by Alex Donnell