In its revised forecast for the Central and Eastern European region released to investors in London, Morgan Stanley said it now expects Hungary’s economy to contract by 1.2% in 2012 against its previous call for a 0.3% fall. For 2013, Morgan Stanley now sees growth of just 0.7%, down from 1.7% in its earlier forecasts. “Weak growth will likely reinforce the NBH’s desire to cut rates, and we now see rates falling all the way to 5%”. The government projects GDP growth to slow from 1.7% in 2011 to 0.1% this year but to pick up to 1.6% in 2013.