CEE reeling from successive years of doubledigit inflation
Polish consumer spending off to a mixed start in January
Savings, rather than consumption boom seen in 2024
Subdued outlook for Czech, Hungarian retail sectors

BUDAPESTWARSAW, Feb 23 Reuters When a 500 Electrolux oven briefly went on sale for 1 of its list price in Hungary last week, within hours shoppers flooded the online store with thousands of orders.

But what looked like the bargain of the century turned out to be a technical glitch and neither the customers had any realistic chance to score such an improbable bargain nor the Swedish home appliance group can count on such exuberant demand.

We expect weak consumer sentiment to persist in the European market in 2024 as consumers opt for lower prices and delay nonessential or occasional expenditure, Peter Toth, head of Central and Eastern Europe South sales area at Electrolux, told Reuters when asked about the health of demand on the European Union39;s eastern wing.

The reality across the region is that there are scant signs of a recovery in consumption that governments were counting on to offset weaker demand for exports from a stuttering German economy and pull the region out from last year39;s inflationled downturn.

Both the Czech Republic and Hungary slid into recession, while Poland avoided it by the narrowest of margins.

Just four weeks into the new year, the Czech government cut its 2024 growth forecast citing weakerthanexpected recovery in…