The number of couples requesting baby expecting support is now above one hundred thousand, meaning that the government has provided help for minimum two hundred thousand young people, the Minister of State for Family and Youth Affairs at the Ministry of Human Capacities announced at a press conference held on Wednesday in Budapest.

Katalin Novák said banks have disbursed baby expecting support worth HUF 784 billion in total, while in 33,000 cases children have already been born or are on the way.

As many as six hundred persons have availed themselves of the 30 per cent reduction of the amount yet to be repaid of the baby expecting support of a maximum amount of ten million forints after the birth of a second child, while in the case of fifty-four couples where three children have been born the entire outstanding sum – to be repaid if no children are born – has been cancelled.

She highlighted that during the coronavirus epidemic they made the process of application easier. She mentioned as an example that until 17 August the baby expecting support can also be requested after the births of children, while the employment of persons who lost their jobs during the epidemic is extended by the duration of the state of danger provided that they find employment again by 16 September.

Additionally, in the case of contracts concluded before the state of danger it is possible to request a credit debt moratorium until the end of the year, she said.

Ms. Novák also mentioned that they had introduced the family housing benefit (csok) five years ago; since then 145,000 families have availed themselves of this possibility, meaning that ‘csok’ has contributed to the housing of some 600,000 people with HUF 455 billion.

Forty-two thousand families have received family housing benefit for the purchase of new homes, as many as 95,000 have been granted ‘csok’ for the purchase of used homes, and eight thousand people have received family housing benefit for the enlargement of their existing homes.

Some one half of those receiving ‘csok’ are families with two children, 38 per cent are about to become or are already large families, and 15 per cent have one child or have agreed to have one child, she said.

She added that two thirds of those applying for ‘csok’ requested financial assistance in respect of already existing children, while one third would like to have children sometime in the future; in total, families have contractually agreed to have approximately 75,000 children.

In answer to a question, Ms. Novák said during the epidemic they also made the application process easier by introducing the temporary rule that in the case of the baby expecting support it was enough for the wife or the husband to be present upon the conclusion of the contract, and they are currently working on an arrangement, she added, which seeks to make the acquisition of the required certificates simpler, online.

President of the Hungarian Banking Association Radován Jelasity stressed that the baby expecting support is the Hungarian banking market’s most successful product, and its popularity did not diminish during the epidemic either; couples applied for HUF 160 billion.

For instance, in April, the banking sector disbursed baby expecting support worth HUF 46 billion and personal any-purpose loans worth HUF 13 billion, while in the second half of 2019 they disbursed more baby expecting support than housing loans, he said.

He added that applicants requested HUF 9.7 million on average, and banks disbursed the amounts requested within 3 to 6 days instead of the prescribed ten days.

(Ministry of Human Capacities / MTI)