The gas trader unit of state-owned Hungarian Electricity Works (MVM) has signed a six-year agreement with Shell to purchase an annual 250 million cubic metres of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for regasification at the LNG terminal in Krk, Croatia from January 1, 2021 to October 1, 2027, Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

Output of Hungary’s industrial sector fell by an annual 8.1% in July, declining by a lower rate, 28.8 percentage points, than the April low because of a pandemic lockdown, the first reading of data released by the Central Statistical Office (KSH) show.

The OECD has acknowledged that Hungary’s tax burden relative to GDP was reduced by the second-largest degree, Finance Minister Mihály Varga told MTI.

Hungary’s seasonally-adjusted Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 52.8 points in August from 51.1 points in July, continuing to improve after plunging in the spring because of the pandemic, the Hungarian Association of Logistics, Purchasing and Inventory Management (Halpim), which compiles the index, said.

Some 100 companies have tendered bids for a supplementary government scheme aimed at promoting development, the minister of foreign affairs and trade told MTI.

Investment volume in Hungary contracted by an annual 9.9% in the second quarter, data released by the Central Statistical Office (KSH) show.

Hungary’s three-month rolling average jobless rate was 4.8% in July, up 0.2 of a percentage point from the previous month and 1.4 percentage points from twelve months earlier, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said.

The forint traded at 356.56 to the euro at 5:30 in the evening on Thursday’s interbank market, softening from 356.05 late on Wednesday.

Companies that made use of the three wage support programmes launched by the government in the spring were typically viable companies with relatively low debt with temporary liquidity problems, according to an analysis by the National Bank of Hungary.