Hungarians’ Expectations Have Deteriorated Dramatically

According to a recent survey by Scale Research, the subjective income situation, borrowing openness and savings expectations of the population have now sunk to the levels seen during the coronavirus epidemic, with the last two years of strengthening almost disappearing from the population's expectations, the portfolio.hu business news portal reports.

This March, only 15% of Hungarians thought they could afford to spend more in the near future, 9% felt they could be bolder in borrowing and only 12% expected their savings to increase.

The trend towards a stronger 2021 was broken in March this year, with a number of key indicators of people's financial situation falling again, according to the latest results of the Scale Research Bank Index survey. The research has been looking at how the Hungarian population aged 18-69 assesses the expected change in their financial situation for several years, which has implications for Hungarians' willingness to borrow, their disposable income and their savings opportunities. 

In March 2022, 15% of the population expected their income situation to improve in the short term and therefore to be able to afford more in everyday spending in the next 12 months. This is even lower than the figure after the start of the COVID-19 epidemic, when 17% of the population thought this was true. The extent of the deterioration is even more striking when comparing the recent data with the 2021 results. Last year, the indicators rebounded nicely, with 22% of the population expecting to spend more, while this year we see a 7% drop.

At the same time, the proportion of undecideds rose in the spring 2022, with nearly one in three of the citizens in this group. Unfortunately, those who do not expect their consumption to increase (substantially) are still in the majority, with 53% of the population expecting a deterioration or stagnation in this area this spring, which is the same as in the first half of 2020, the portal notes.