Thanks to the credit debt repayment moratorium extended to 30 June 2021, next year some HUF 400 to 450 billion could be left with families and businesses, Csaba Dömötör said. Including family members, this possibility could help more than a million people.

The Parliamentary State Secretary of the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister stressed it has recently been announced that the government has extended the credit debt repayment moratorium for certain social groups. This means that parents raising children, pensioners, job-seekers and the participants of public works schemes will not be required to pay amortisation instalments until next 30 June. This option also applies to businesses whose revenues have decreased by 25 per cent.

According to calculations this possibility could benefit as many as 752,000 contracts, meaning that family members included, well above a million people.

“It is to be hoped that this will be a great help in daily life,” the State Secretary underlined.

Based on August 2020 data, families raising children constitute the largest group – some 512,000 – of those who availed themselves of the moratorium, their credit portfolio amounting to a total HUF 1,178 billion. The loans of 160,000 pensioners amount to HUF 368 billion, while 64,000 job-seekers have availed themselves of the possibility of suspending the repayment of debts worth around HUF 147 billion. Public works scheme participants constitute the smallest group, there are 16,000 of them with loans totalling HUF 37 billion.

The extension of the moratorium for retail debtors could concern almost 47 per cent of those who have participated so far. Their total debts amount to HUF 1,730 billion, representing 50 per cent of the loans of those currently availing themselves of the moratorium. Around 15 to 20 per cent of businesses, approximately 10,000 to 12,000 of them fall into the vulnerable category; this is how many are expected to request the extension of the moratorium on their payments.

Based on the government’s decision, the loans of neither corporate, nor retail debtors can be terminated prior to 30 June 2021.

In 2020, with the suspension of credit debt repayments, HUF 2,000 billion will remain with the customers of banks. 1.6 million of the 2.7 million eligible retail customers have taken advantage of the moratorium with a debt portfolio totalling HUF 3,500 billion. The total portfolio of credit debts eligible for the moratorium amounts to HUF 6,603 billion. Among corporate customers, the percentage of those taking advantage of the moratorium is even higher as 60,000 of the 96,000 eligible businesses have decided to avail themselves of this option in 2020. Their corporate loans amount to some HUF 4,264 billion of the total eligible portfolio of HUF 9,692 billion.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)