Economy: And then Orbán will not let anyone into the country unless they ask him to

Worse than ever figures are coming in on the spread of the coronavirus in Hungary, and every day so many new infections are found that they were not even diagnosed in the spring. The “vice-like” border blockade went into effect on September 1, but has been greatly relaxed compared to the original plans, for example because the Czech president had asked Viktor Orbán to do so. However, due to restrictions, it is basically not worth traveling abroad, which also means that the travel insurance abroad is no longer valid. Still, the European Commission wrote to warn the government that the border blockade in its current form was discriminatory and then put forward a proposal on how to keep the closures correct. The school year has also started, and for the moment, teaching will only stop where the infected are.

We review how the government’s response is different now than in March, in almost everything. Hospitals and nursing homes are not central, only in a few cases, they have been restricted so far and are preparing for the second wave by releasing far fewer hospital beds anyway. Restarting jobs makes closing the elementary school nearly impossible. And manufacturing plants could now close if demand plummets, not just to guard against the virus.

The fact that tourists from many countries cannot come to Hungary is another blow to tourism, despite the fact that 2020 was a terrible year in this area even before the current restrictions. At first in the industry, bookings were expected to start in 2-3 months and very slowly everything would go back to the old wheelbase, but they didn’t. Now they see that until there is a vaccine, the classic out-and-out market will not start meaningfully and hotels may close en masse.

“The situation has become completely desperate,” said Judit Lázár, president of the Association of Hungarian Immigrants. Previously, those who worked in the profession had hoped that by the time the Christmas fairs opened, the situation would be settled. According to Judit Lázár, the chances of this happening are small, because foreign travel agencies do not trust Hungary, because if on August 28 it turns out that it is not possible to enter the country as of September 1, then it is feared that this happen again. Meanwhile, Hungarian travel agencies have reached an agreement with Neumann Labs to test those returning from the trip for 12,500 HUF for coronavirus.

The CSO detailed why our economy slumped more than ever, by 13.6 percent, in the second quarter. Industry performance fell by a fifth, mainly due to the shutdown of automobile production, which was the only reason for pharmaceutical production to grow. Services registered a 12 percent drop, with the financial insurance sector being the only one to close. According to Reuters, the central bank has also given up hope of a V-shaped crisis and is now envisioning a reorganization of the economy more in the form of a Nike pipeline, that is, with a slower rise than the recession.

We’re not brilliant on other macro data either, this was also evident in CSO data released this week. Hungarian industry is still 7.7 percent weaker than a year earlier, but at least it is back to where it was at the end of March. In retail, growth must be looked at through a magnifying glass, going from 0.4% a month earlier to 0.0%. However, there would be something to buy into, at least wages have risen dramatically, by 15.6 percent; of course, those who have been sent part-time have dropped out of the statistics and much of the increase came from a one-time allowance for healthcare workers. They are also not happy in the currency markets, as the state of the economy is now: the guilder / euro exchange rate was already at 361.

Picture of the Week: The abandoned stadium in Szigetszentmiklós, now being auctioned after the team collapsed due to expensive construction.

The GDP data also revealed that real household consumption declined by a surprisingly small amount, just 8.6%. Household consumption has been one of the engines of GDP growth in recent years, and the government still seems hopeful of pulling the economy out of recession by boosting household consumption.

The government is reluctant to spend the central budget on economic protection. The deficit is still gone, retail purchases of government securities are needed. Of course, household consumption and investment alone will not lift the Hungarian economy out of recession, not to mention that much depends on what the second wave of the epidemic will look like and what restrictive measures will be put in place.

The demonstration phase of the government-initiated and supported green bus program will begin in Debrecen on September 1, it was announced. None of the politicians mentioned exactly what kind of bus it was. Only the image attached to the communication shows that it is exactly a Mercedes-Benz eCitaro vehicle.

Unsurprisingly, the government’s green bus program started with a foreign vehicle, as there is no appreciable production of electric buses in Hungary. However, the aim of this program is also to strengthen bus production in Hungary, they want the national share in production to reach or exceed 60 percent.

With less than two months to go until the US presidential election, experts say that Donald Trump still has about a 30 percent chance of re-election. In addition to a stable conservative electoral base, the president should target the same group for victory that he won four years ago: industrial workers in lagging rust zones. He promised them a job in 2016 and only half fulfilled that promise, but at least convinced them to protect them from Mexicans.

The essence of Trump’s economic policy has been for three and a half years: Thanks to the support of big business, if the economy works well, there will be jobs. This worked quite well until the epidemic hit, but in the meantime, inequalities did not diminish. Nor has it changed that the poor cause tremendous problems if they are absent from work due to illness, and this is a real problem for many during the epidemic. And as for Trump’s international economic policy: Although America First was his campaign slogan, in many cases it was just a sword.

Lőrinc Mészáros and Csilla Beatrix Mészárosné Kelemen divorce, the news was published by the couple themselves. No matter how much they share in jointly acquired wealth, you cannot tell that one of them will be the richest Hungarian and the other will be second on the list. But it is a billion dollar fortune that must be decided.

Butcher Beatrix, who is currently interested in three companies, has a dwarf in wealth and influence over his three children, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been in a strong position so far. Forbes mentioned him among the most influential women last year. However, the store seemed to have changed before: Ms. Mészáros transferred a significant portion of her Opus shares to her three children at the end of July.