German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce: Corona crisis will negatively affect Hungary's economy for many more months

21 Oct 2020 00:00 Economy

The consequences of the Corona crisis will continue to affect companies in Hungary well into 2021. This is the result of the latest, now sixth, survey of the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce among its members. Nils Blunck, member of the management board of the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce and at the same time Hamburg Ambassador, stated in an interview with Kristina Kovacs, Head of the Port of Hamburg Marketing Representative Office, that it cannot be reliably predicted when the pre-Corona levels will be reached again.

After all, around 60 percent of the member companies surveyed expect their business situation to improve in the next 12 months and around 50 percent expect sales to return to the levels seen before the crisis. "However, we must clearly differentiate between the various industrial and service sectors," emphasizes Blunck. The automotive sector in particular is suffering from the crisis. "Other areas, such as medical technology, can even record rising sales in some cases," adds the Hamburg Ambassador.

Regarding the number of employees, there is a great deal of uncertainty: over 40 percent of those surveyed could not say exactly when they would reach pre-crisis levels again, but employment could return to 2019 levels in 2021. Corona-related disruptions in supply chains still exist, although they are usually of minor importance.

Currently, the fear of a second wave is dominating Hungary's economy. Blunck assumes that it will also have an economic impact: "Companies are now prepared. There are already many jobs which allow working from home. This could at least mitigate the effects for service providers and government agencies. In production, however, a lockdown would have negative effects.

German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce: Corona crisis will negatively affect Hungary's economy for many more months