Economy
Hungary calling quits on Sunday shopping ban seen lifting GDP
András Balatoni said the impact of the measure will not be huge but it could be large enough for Hungary’s GDP to grow by 2.5% instead of the expected 2.3%.
ING Bank’s chief analyst also thinks that the already recovering retail sales could be further bolstered, albeit only temporarily, by the government’s decision to abolish the Sunday shopping ban, merely by adding one more day to purchase goods. The measure could also have a favourable effect on employment. When the government created legislation banning - with a few exceptions - stores from opening on Sundays, the number of employees in the retail sector decreased. Now it can rise back to where it was before the no-work Sunday law came into effect. Additionally, salaries could rise too.
Zoltán Török, chief analyst at Raiffeisen Bank in Budapest, has a similar view on the matter. He thinks “a significant wage hike is needed to resolve the problems of the sector." He added that the Sunday shopping ban implemented last year did not help retail sales to rise. However, it is impossible to tell from the data how much turnover is missing.
ING Bank’s chief analyst also thinks that the already recovering retail sales could be further bolstered, albeit only temporarily, by the government’s decision to abolish the Sunday shopping ban, merely by adding one more day to purchase goods. The measure could also have a favourable effect on employment. When the government created legislation banning - with a few exceptions - stores from opening on Sundays, the number of employees in the retail sector decreased. Now it can rise back to where it was before the no-work Sunday law came into effect. Additionally, salaries could rise too.
Zoltán Török, chief analyst at Raiffeisen Bank in Budapest, has a similar view on the matter. He thinks “a significant wage hike is needed to resolve the problems of the sector." He added that the Sunday shopping ban implemented last year did not help retail sales to rise. However, it is impossible to tell from the data how much turnover is missing.
