The index found that Hungary's top 100 companies believed the Hungarian macroeconomic environment is largely stable. More than 40% of companies believed the operating environment will improve in the next 12 months, while 50% saw no change on the horizon. Companies believe that year-end inflation will come in at 4.5%, despite monthly inflation to date of around 3.6%.
Of the top 100 companies, 62% are considering investments over the coming year, although none said that they would invest in new technology. Also at 62% was the number of companies who said they had unused capacity. This was up from 52% during the previous month.
Outlook among SMEs also took a slump in September, falling around one point on the month to 48.8. The number of SMEs that were pessimistic about the operating environment and their own business prospect grew. The proportion of SMEs expecting increased production in the next 12 months plunged 8 pp to 29%. Willingness of SMEs to invest also fell 7 pp to 47%.
NAPI Online