The legislation extends the loan repayment moratorium by six months to next June. It covers families with children, pensioners, the jobless, fostered workers and companies struggling financially because of the pandemic.

The moratorium was one of the first measures the government introduced in the spring to shield against the economic fallout from the pandemic.

Banks are now prohibited from cancelling any retail or corporate pre-crisis loan contracts until the end of next June, effectively putting the onus on lenders to restructure the credit of distressed borrowers who are not covered by the extended moratorium.

State secretary for financial affairs, Gábor Gion, has said the extension could leave up to 450 billion (EUR 1.2bn) forints with households and businesses.