KBC Bank Not Exiting Hungary
- 13 Jan 2014 8:01 AM
Belgian financial group KBC will not exit Hungary despite a tough outlook for profitability and pressure from the authorities for consolidation, the head of KBC’s local business told Reuters. Central bank governor György Matolcsy, a former economy minister who launched Europe’s highest bank levy to stabilise the state budget, said last month four foreign banks could leave Hungary in the next 6-18 months.
“We can rule that out completely,” Hendrik Scheerlinck, head of KBC’s unit in Hungary, K&H Bank, told Reuters.
“We believe in Hungary, it is an important part of the strategy, and we have a clear growth strategy in this country. We want and we will be an important player in financing the Hungarian economy,” Scheerlinck added.
Austria’s Erste Bank and Italy’s UniCredit Bank have already said they would not leave Hungary, while Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank said on Wednesday it had decided not to sell its Hungarian unit for now.
With a loan to deposit ratio of just 58%, Scheerlinck said K&H had abundant liquidity to expand lending.
Source www.hungarymatters.hu
Follow that link to sign-up for MTI’s twice-daily newsletter.
LATEST NEWS IN business