Finance Minister: Stable banking system boosts Hungary’s sovereignty

At the event celebrating the establishment of the Hungarian-owned bank, Mihaly Varga said recent years had shown the importance of self-sufficiency and sovereignty in the economy and politics.

International surveys, Varga said, had shown that the Hungarian banking sector was resilient against crises.

The ratio of non-performing loans has been consistently below 4 percent, and the sector’s capital ratio is at 18 percent, well over the mandatory minimum, he said.

Liquidity reserves are at 180 percent and the net stable funding ratio at 139 percent, both comfortably over the mandatory 100 percent, he added.

The minister said Hungarian-owned banks must should a leading role at the country’s market as they shared an interest in the country’s good economic performance with the Hungarian corporate world.

MBH was founded in multiple phases, and now it covers a large part of the Hungarian market along with OTP Bank as opposed to foreign-owned banks, he said.

Varga said larger companies had the advantage in the globalised banking sector, and Hungarian banks still had room for progress in that area.