Economy 17 March 2020, 11:11am

Hungarian businesses increasingly alarmed

Portfolio

More than 15,000 Hungarian businesses have responded to a survey of the economic impact of the coronavirus, László Parragh, President of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MKIK), said on public TV Tuesday morning. The chamber has processed 9,000 responses so far, which indicate that Hungarians are becoming more and more alarmed and fearful day by day. Businesses must now face the fact that the coronavirus will not bypass them, Parragh said.

According to the survey, about half of Hungarian businesses have some kind of crisis management plan, typically bigger international companies, while smaller businesses have no arrangements regarding schedules, extra work or weekend shifts. About one on three companies can make remote work work, Parragh said.

The coronavirus will have a major impact on the economy, Parragh stressed. Data from China for January and February indicate that the situation is several magnitudes worse than even the worst expectations as investments fell 25% compared to a projected drop of 2 to 3%.

Speaking at the MKIK's annual event last week, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called upon the chamber to collate and forward "frontline" feedback by economic players by the end of April on how each sector could be assisted in the difficult times ahead.

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