Economy

Households' net financing capacity decreased to 5.3% of GDP in Q1

Household net lending, or net financing capacity, HUF 1,489 billion, was equivalent to 5.2% of GDP in the four quarters through Q1 this year, the National Bank of Hungary said in a report on preliminary financial accounts data on Thursday.

Banking association establishes position on transactions duty for talks with govt

If the banking sector is burdened to this degree for the third year in a row, it will prevent lending from picking up in Hungary, which is in neither the interest of banks nor the government, Mihály Patai said.

Budapest Stock Exchange name new CEO

Former head left the exchange over differences concerning the introduction of a new trading system at the bourse.

EU conformity of telephone tax questionable, Mattheisen says

The physical implementation of the tax had raised many questions among all industry players, Christopher Mattheisen, the head of Magyar Telekom said.

Hungarian insurers to pay no bank levy from 2013, ministry confirms

Hungarian insurers will no longer pay the extraordinary levy on financial sector companies from next year, the National Economy Ministry said on Tuesday, confirming a measure outlined in the recently unveiled Széll Kálmán Plan 2.0, an updated structural reform program.

Competition Offices fines railway companies for cartel activity

Hungary's Competition Office (GVH) on Tuesday said it fined state-owned-railway company MÁV, regional railway company GYSEV and Rail Cargo Hungaria a combined HUF 1.25 billion for cartel activity. GVH established that the companies had colluded when setting prices.

Kopint-Tárki 2012 GDP-growth projection remains unchanged at 0.3%

The company expects GDP growth of 1.5% in 2013, its fresh economic report reveals.


Hungary 2011 deficit, excluding one-offs, better than targeted

Hungary's general government deficit, excluding the effect of one-off measures, was 2.43% of GDP in 2011, lower than the 2.94% target and under the 3% threshold for the first time since 2004, National Economy Minister György Matolcsy told European Commission Vice President Olli Rehn in a letter on Tuesday.

Gov't ready to start talks with IMF/EU at any time

The Prime Minister's spokesman says "it is in our interest for the talks to begin as soon as possible".

Hungary international reserves drop €128 mln in March

End-of-March reserves were down €3.132 billion from the end of December 2011 and dropped €1.05 billion from a year earlier.


BBJ focus: Translation

Lost in mirror translation

Confusion around OFFI – Translation authority or a monopolized state market leader?

The syntax of stability

The translation business was left relatively unchanged by the crisis: leading companies held on firmly to their positions and sometimes even grew.

Multilanguage multimedia

Demand for translating the content of web pages and localizing applications is growing exponentially

Translation between Hungarian and Chinese: a new frontier?

The latest round of China-EU strategic dialog, which took place in Gödöllő in early May under the auspices of the Hungarian EU presidency, has underlined the importance of China’s relations with Hungary and the rest of the EU

BBJ special report: office market

No funding to resuscitate office developments

Developers are ready to launch new office development projects, but they run into brick walls when they approach banks for proper financing. Industry insiders claim there is little hope this scenario will change anytime soon.

Newbies challenge old players

The general lack of activity on the property segment was also reflected in the 2010 business performance of facility management companies. But the slow market is not discouraging others active in various parts of the sector from trying their hand at management.

CIG Pannonia Life Insurance applies for "A" category listing at BSE

The life insurance company's shares have been listed in the BSE's "B" category since November 2010.

Hungary rate-setters brush off speculation of rift

Two external members of the Council said the speculation was untrue, and tension between the Council and the MNB staff was an "urban legend".