No “really big” bank will pull out of Hungary because of government measures that have added to the burden of lenders, bank CEOs said at a conference on Wednesday.
Hungarian banks have had to pay a bank levy since 2010 and the government recently introduced an early foreign currency-denominated mortgage repayment scheme that requires banks to shoulder the cost of a discounted exchange rate.
András Kozma, chairman-CEO of Commerzbank, said the question was how long foreign owners of Hungarian banks would tolerate the reduced business activity.
László Balázs, chairman-CEO of Magyarországi Volksbank, said the early FX repayment scheme could affect about 70% of operating profit of the banking sector.