The increase was nearly balanced out by a HUF 29.6 bln reduction in the forint lending stock due to “revaluations and other changes,” and likely write-downs of non-performing loans.
The total retail lending stock stood at HUF 5.7742 trillion at the end of May, only about HUF 10 bln over the average end-of-month stock in the twelve months to the end of the period.
The rise in the forint retail lending stock reached HUF 26.8 bln in May, when adjusted for seasonal effects.
FX loans made up just HUF 42.3 bln of the retail lending stock. Once the most popular lending product in Hungary, FX loans were phased out several years ago after exchange rate changes put many Hungarian homeowners underwater.
Households withdrew net HUF 60.1 bln from forint deposits, but placed net HUF 56.7 bln in FX deposits in May. The strong forint cut HUF 24.1 bln of the FX deposit stock. The total retail deposit stock stood at HUF 7.4219 tln at the end of May, including HUF 6.1914 tln of forint deposits and HUF 1.2305 tln in FX deposits. The total stock was about HUF 200 bln over the average end-of-month stock in the twelve months to the end of May.
The euro strengthened 1.2% against the forint between the end of April and May, calculating with the central bankʼs daily fixing.
Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For over 30 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.
