Sales data of government securities point to great popularity and that is a sign of the trust of households and enterprises in future outlook and the performance of the Hungarian economy, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said in Makó, a town in the south-east of Hungary, where he opened the 77th sales point of the Hungarian State Treasury.
Thanks to the retail programme launched in 2012, the stock of government securities held by households has been rising, and the share of respective holdings increased from 5 percent to 13 percent of total, he noted. Between the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2016, the stock of debt held by retail investors rose by HUF 2600bn - or almost five - fold, he said.
Government securities have been a competitive savings instrument on the Hungarian financial market; over the past four years, half of the volume of new household savings has been invested in government bonds.
These products have been made attractive by favourable economic processes, the Minister pointed out, such as the fact that the general government debt-to-GDP ratio fell to 75.3 percent. In comparison to the previous year, the share of forex debt declined by 4.5 percent to 35.3 percent of total, and thus the financing of the state budget has become much more predictable and balanced, he added.
As he stressed, government securities have been the safest and one of the highest-yielding investment products, as the state was a reliable financial partner for all: upon maturity, there is state guarantee for the entire amount of principal and accrued interest, without an upper limit.
Since 2013, the Hungarian State Treasury has increased the number of sales points by 56, aiming to extend the existing network of sales points which used to be available only at county seats.
(Ministry for National Economy)
