Chamber Calls for Rate Freeze, Repayment Moratorium for Hungarian Firms
- 21 Oct 2022 6:29 AM
- Hungary Matters
The Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MKIK) has requested that the government should consider freezing the rate on corporate loans between 5-10% and introducing a repayment moratorium for existing floating-rate loans “as long as the economic situation warrants”.
MKIK said that pass-through of a decision by the National Bank of Hungary (NBH) almost a week earlier to raise the rate for its O/N deposit facility to 18% — well over the 13% base rate — was “lightning fast”.
With the three-month BUBOR at 16.5% and lending margins around 4%, borrowing businesses face rates of over 20%, it added.
MKIK pointed to a mortgage rate freeze and a repayment moratorium in place for retail borrowers that cushioned the negative impact of higher lending rates, but said dearer credit is a “huge blow” for businesses struggling with the energy crisis while on the brink of recovery from the pandemic.
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