Thanks to the debt repayment moratorium, in 2020 two thousand billion forints worth of excess funds will remain with members of the public and businesses, the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance said at the Monday online press conference of the Operational Group responsible for the containment of the coronavirus epidemic.

András Tállai added that from among the government’s economy protection measures, the debt repayment moratorium had provided genuine help.

According to the latest data, 40 per cent of members of the public have decided to continue the repayment of their credit debts, meaning that more than one half of debtors are taking advantage of the moratorium. 70 per cent of large companies and 40 per cent of small and medium-sized businesses are continuing the repayment of their credit debts, he said. The total amount of debts covered by the moratorium up to the end of the year is around HUF 2,000 billion which is the equivalent of 4.5 per cent of GDP, he added. He said it is important that corporate lending has resumed in Hungary, and as part of the Growth Credit Programme Hungarian businesses have already taken out loans worth more than HUF 10 billion.

Mr Tállai stressed that Hungary had won the first round of the fight against the virus; we are among the countries fighting the epidemic most effectively, not only due to timely measures adopted in health care, but also on account of timely measures adopted in the protection of the economy.

The State Secretary said the suspension of principal and interest payments up to 31 December is a unique opportunity worldwide. In Western Europe, the implemented moratorium measures do not extend to such a wide range of customers, and their terms are typically limited to three months.

According to his information, this measure concerned some 7.7 million credit contracts. In February 2020, there were credit portfolios worth around HUF 15,000 billion in the balance sheets of banks, including corporate loans to the value of HUF 8,000 billion and retail loans to the value of HUF 7,000 billion. If everyone had availed themselves of the moratorium, up to the end of the year customers would have been able to save some HUF 3,600 billion.

The introduction of the credit debt moratorium also serves to retain jobs and to boost consumption, he observed.

He drew attention to the fact that also beyond the cessation of the state of danger anyone can decide to stop repaying their credit debts until 31 December.

He highlighted that due to the effective economy protection measures adopted in a timely manner, Hungary could recover from the economic crisis caused by the epidemic within the shortest possible time, and Hungary could again be one of the Member States of the European Union with the highest economic growth rates.

(Ministry of Finance / MTI)