Hungary posts record trade surplus

Hungary posted a record trade surplus in March as the weak forint boosted overseas demand for Hungarian-made goods, data released by the central statistics office KSH showed Thursday. The Hungarian trade surplus amounted to 839.7 million euros ($1.28 billion) in March, compared to a 600 million euro surplus in the same month last year.
The March data was moderately higher than February's surplus which was double the previous month's figures. Over a year exports were up 18 percent with imports rising by 16 percent, with both exceeding the pre-crisis levels of early 2008, the KSH said. The Hungarian economy grew by 0.7 percent in the first three months of 2011, a year after emerging from a deep recession. Last year Hungary's trade surplus hit 5.52 billion euros.