Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs András Tállai and Hungarian State Treasury President József Dancsó held a joint press conference where they evaluated the latest inflation statistics and data of Hungarian government securities.

Data show that consumer prices declined by 1.4 percent in January 2015 and the number of securities account holders reached 150 thousand, as the value of securities on these accounts reached more than HUF 686bn.
The Minister of State stressed that as a result of positive economic processes the disposable income of households has been on the rise and a significant share of this extra income is being invested in government securities. Therefore, an ever larger part of state debt can be financed from domestic resources, he explained.

András Tállai also presented the draft version of the medium-term strategy of the Hungarian State Treasury. According to the proposal, the Treasury reform will place in the foreground the transparent, efficient and guarded utilization of public funds.

József Dancsó emphasised that the financing of state debt is much safer if domestic investors – among them small private investors -- also play a central role in it, as they are the most reliable re-investor group. It is important that they spend or re-invest a large share of the interest they receive in the country.

He added that the medium-term strategy also focuses on improving services by tailoring them to the needs of clients. According to data from the end of December 2014, the most popular securities among the clients of the Treasury are the inflation-linked, floating rate 3-year and 5-year Premium Hungarian Government Bonds, but the 4-year, 6-year and 10-year Bonus Hungarian Government Bonds, which have been available since 17 March 2014, are also very successful. Last year, the Treasury opened twenty-three new client centres across the country and thus the number of sales offices that sell government securities has increased to fifty-four.

Responding to the questions of journalists concerning the so-called Residence Bonds, András Tállai pointed out that the state only incurs costs with regard to these government securities on expiry. Companies that sell them calculate their own expenses but these must be covered by bondholders and not the State of Hungary.

(Ministry for National Economy)