Domestic rabbit consumption has doubled in the last three years, Minister of Agriculture István Nagy said on Saturday at the opening of the 17th Rabbit Festival in Debrecen dubbed "Only Rabbit", according to economic daily Világgazdaság. 

One of the key goals of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) strategy is to increase the productivity of Hungarian SMEs by about 26% by 2030 and to this end the AI Innovation Center will be established to encourage the widespread use of applications, and the National AI Lab will be involved in research work, the Ministry for Innovation and Technology (ITM) said yesterday, according to novekedes.hu.

OTP Bank, Hungaryʼs biggest commercial lender, has disbursed HUF 405 billion of prenatal baby support loans since the launch of the government scheme in July 2019, state news wire MTI reports.

Revenue of Hungarian spas and baths has fallen at least 50% this year because of the pandemic, and 76% will become insolvent by next spring without assistance, the head of the Hungarian Baths Association said, according to profitline.hu.

The European Unionʼs Agriculture and Fisheries Council is expected to approve the European Commissionʼs "Farm to Fork Strategy" at a meeting on October 19-20, but Hungary, while backing the decision, will submit a dissenting opinion to it, Hungaryʼs Agriculture Ministry said on Friday, according to a report by state news wire MTI.

Hungarians waste more than 300,000 tonnes of food per year, worth more than HUF 170 billion or HUF 18,000 per person, Hungaryʼs food safety authority said on Friday, World Food Day, state news wire MTI reports.

The volume of construction output based on raw data was 13.6% lower in August 2020 compared to the previous year, according to data by the Central Statistical Office (KSH). 

The Government Debt Management Agency (ÁKK) sold a combined HUF 37.5 billion of securities at auction on Wednesday, HUF 7.5 bln more than planned, state news wire MTI reports.

Output of Hungaryʼs automotive sector climbed 6.2% year-on-year in August, rising for the first time since before the start of the coronavirus crisis, according to detailed industrial output data released by the Central Statistical Office (KSH).

The fall fish restocking will be carried out in Lake Balaton again this year by the agricultural management company Balatoni Halgazdálkodási Nonprofit Zrt., based Siófok (110 km southwest of Budapest), writes Magyar Nemzet.

The President of the Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BKIK) Elek Nagy spoke to Világgazdaság about the serious long-term effects of the capitalʼs 0.5% crisis tax planned to be levied on tax-based enterprises over HUF 5 billion.

Japan and Thailand have lifted the last restrictions on imports of Hungarian poultry due to an outbreak of bird flu, national food safety authority NÉBIH said on its website, according to a report by state news wire MTI.

Hungaryʼs apple growers could harvest around 300,000-350,000 tonnes of apples in 2020, business daily Világgazdaság wrote, citing Ferenc Apáti, the deputy head of professional association FruitVeb.

MÁV-Start, the passenger business of state-owned Hungarian railway company MÁV, will soon offer to sell collection agencies some HUF 3 billion in unpaid fines for fare-dodging, state news wire MTI reports.

On average, domestic cars are nearly 15 years old, according to the Ministry for Innovation and Technology, writes novekedes.hu. 

Economic research institute GKIʼs gauge of consumer confidence slipped to -34.2 points in October from -31.1 points in September, falling for the third month in a row after three consecutive months of improvement following a pandemic plunge in April, according to a report by state news wire MTI.

In EUR terms, the value of exports decreased by 2.5% and that of imports by 5.4% in August 2020 compared to the same period of the previous year, according to data released by the Central Statistical Office (KSH).

British American Tobacco (BAT) could move cigarette production from its base in Pécs (170 km southwest of Budapest) to other factories within the group, the companyʼs local unit, BAT Pécsi Dohánygyár, told state news wire MTI.

Hungaryʼs general government deficit, excluding local councils, reached approximately HUF 2.270 trillion at the end of September, edging up HUF 9 billion from a month earlier, the Finance Ministry said in a preliminary release of data on Thursday, state news wire MTI reports.

The annual rate of increase of consumer prices slowed down to 3.4% year-on-year in September 2020, according to data published by the Central Statistical Office (KSH).