Prior to the 2008 global crisis, the Hungarian economy was performing well compared with other countries in the region, partly due to unsustainable external lending, which led to macroeconomic imbalances (Figure 1). Subsequently growth was slower than in most other countries in the region, before accelerating strongly more recently. Moreover, imbalances have been reduced, notably the current account deficit was turned into a surplus and exposure to foreign currency denominated loans was sharply reduced. Nonetheless, the level of real GDP only surpassed its pre-crisis level in 2015. In addition, there has been no significant income convergence vis-a-vis the five richest European countries since the crisis, leaving Hungarian per capita incomes among the lowest in the OECD (Figure 2).