Hungary's economy probably grew 3.7 percent in the fourth quarter as rising exports outweighed slowing consumer spending, a survey of economists showed

Hungary's economy probably grew 3.7 percent in the fourth quarter as rising exports outweighed slowing consumer spending, a survey of economists showed. Gross domestic product rose 3.7 percent in the quarter, the same as in the July-September period and down from 4.2 percent in the second quarter, according to the median forecast of 10 economists surveyed by Bloomberg on Feb. 25. The statistics office will release the report at 9 a.m. today in Budapest. ``Hungarian exporters have improved their market positions in Western Europe,'' the destination of 80 percent of Hungarian-made goods, said Andras Pinter, an economist at Sanpaolo IMI SpA's Inter-Europa Bank unit in Budapest. Hungary's entry into the European Union in May boosted exports as trade barriers with the rest of the EU were removed. Export growth is helping the $101 billion Hungarian economy outpace expansion in the 12 countries sharing the euro. The economy of the euro region grew 1.6 percent in the fourth quarter and the European Commission expects 2 percent growth in 2005 compared with 3.7 percent in Hungary. Growing exports are outweighing an erosion in consumer buying power as the government seeks to narrow the budget and current account deficits before the nation adopts the euro later this decade, economists and executives said. Sales at consumer goods makers including Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp. have fallen, damping growth in the third-largest of the 10 nations that joined the European Union last year.