Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was granted a near-total exemption from the European Union’s embargo on Russian oil. Although the premier hails it as a great victory achieved in Brussels, the exemption may only deepen the rift between the bloc and Hungary. EU leaders agreed this week to grant Hungary a near-total exemption from a […]

Hungary’s decision to levy extraordinary sectoral taxes is not the first time that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán resorts to unorthodox economic measures to prop up the budget. The announcement on Thursday triggered a selling wave on local financial markets, suggesting that investors are alarmed by the country’s return to economic unorthodoxy. Hungary will impose USD […]

Hungary’s incoming government faces some of the biggest economic challenges of the last decade as rampant energy prices may force it to abandon state-imposed price caps, while global disruptions are denting prospects for growth. The new Orbán government may again deploy unorthodox economic measures to guard fiscal stability and prop up the economic outlook. Prime […]

Hungary is opposing the European Union’s proposal for a gradual ban on Russian oil imports, with Budapest claiming the plan would be equivalent to dropping an A-bomb on the country’s economy. Meanwhile, tensions are on the rise within the bloc as a handful of dissenting member states are holding up action on a new package […]

The war in Ukraine has brought to the forefront one of Europe’s most pressing vulnerabilities: its reliance on Russian energy. Although European leaders have shown great resolve in their initial response to the war in Ukraine, the solution of weaning the continent off Russian energy dependence is not immediately clear or painless. A similarly pressing […]

Sándor Csányi, chairman of Hungary’s largest commercial bank OTP, warned that the Hungary needs a budget adjustment of up to HUF 1,700 billion. The war in the Ukraine, international energy prices and the outcome of Hungary’s standoff with the European Union will decide the exact extent and nature of the budget adjustment, according to Csányi. […]

A hefty spending spree by the government ahead of April’s elections has left a significant hole in Hungary’s budget at a time when the war in Ukraine is putting further pressure on the country’s financials. With the budget deficit reaching nearly 75% of the annual target by the end of March, the new government will […]

The European Union’s decision to launch a new rule of law mechanism against the Hungarian government threatens to strip Hungary of billions of forints in much-needed funding. The move comes at a time when the government needs to rein in a swelling budget deficit and faces a slowdown in the economy. Hot on the heels […]

The Hungarian central bank’s tightening cycle, the most aggressive in the European Union, has led to an increase in loan repayment obligations last seen in the 2008 financial crisis. Once the government’s interest rate stop on retail loans runs out at the end of June, hundreds of thousands of Hungarian families will experience a jump […]

The National Bank of Hungary raised massively the EU’s highest key interest rate as it seeks to tamper runaway inflation and bolster the forint. Analysts expect policy makers to continue raising borrowing costs as the war in Ukraine continues to rattle markets. The Monetary Council of the Hungarian National Bank (NBH) raised the central bank […]

Following weeks of protests in the form of civil disobedience, teachers in Hungary called a nationwide strike demanding higher wages and a fairer workload. While acknowledging some of their demands, the government called on teachers to postpone their strike in view of the war in neighboring Ukraine. Following weeks of protests in the form of […]

Petrol stations across the country experienced fuel shortages this week in the face of record demand. The government-imposed price cap on motor fuel is forcing an increasing number of gas stations to close down. Long queues were forming at gas stations across the country this week and there is a growing number of petrol stations […]

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent markets in the region into a whirlwind and pushed the Hungarian forint to a record low against the euro this week. The National Bank of Hungary said it would take the necessary measures to contain the impact of the Ukrainian conflict on financial markets. International market sentiment sank this week […]

Hungarians most probably borrowed a record amount of money from banks last year, with credit driven by historically low interest rates and a spike in real estate prices. The volume of new housing loans jumped a spectacular 40% from a year earlier, driving household borrowing to historic highs. According to central bank data for the […]

Hungary will cut spending by around EUR 2 billion next year as the government expects economic expansion to slow in 2022. The Cabinet of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, facing a closely fought general election next spring, is balancing between generous financial handouts to voters and a commitment to keep the budget deficit in check. The […]