Kovács confirmed that the National Economy Ministry (NGM) had several consultations with the Association concerning the bank levy and the Association was aware of the changes NGM submitted to Parliament on Thursday about the legislative proposal amending the levy.
According to Kovács: “the consistent reduction of the burdens of banks serves the goal of the Hungarian banking sector regaining its competitiveness in the region”.
NGM is proposing that for banks with total assets above HUF 50 bln the bank levy should drop from 0.53% to 0.24%, lower than the initial proposal of 0.31% that the ministry made in November. For banks with total assets under HUF 50 bln the bank levy should still remain at 0.15%. 2009 will be used as the benchmark year for total assets in all cases in 2016.