The EBRD acknowledged “surprisingly brisk” GDP growth of 2.7% in Q4 of last year, but attributed the increase as mainly driven by domestic demand supported by one-off factors, such as government-mandated utility price cuts and disbursement of European Union funding at the end of the 2007-2013 European Union budget period.

According to the report, phase two of the National Bank of Hungary (MNB)’s Funding for Growth scheme, which makes low interest-rate credit available to SMEs, had “begun only slowly” and was “unlikely to overcome the underlying lack of investment demand.”

The EBRD projects growth of 1.2% for Hungary’s GDP in 2015.