Hungary net household savings at 2.8% of GDP in Q3

The net financing capacity of households, or net household financial savings, reached HUF 202bn or 2.8% of the quarter’s GDP in the third quarter of 2011, the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) said in a report on preliminary financial accounts data on Wednesday.

Net financial savings of households fell from 3.9% of GDP in the second quarter and the ratio was also under the 3.4% measure in Q3 2010.

The savings ratio rose, however, from 3.9% of GDP in Q2 to 4.5% in Q3 if corrected for seasonal factors, although was still down from 4.8% a year earlier.

In the four quarters ending Q3 2011 Hungarian households had net financing requirement to the tune of HUF 1,554bn or 5.6% of GDP as a transfer of private pension fund assets to the state, carried out in June this year but accounted for January, made them net borrowers.

Excluding the pension assets transfer, households saved net HUF 1,124bn or 4.0% of the period’s GDP in the four quarters that ended Q3 2011. The four-quarter financial savings ratio dropped from 4.8% in the period ending Q1 and from 4.2% in Q2.

Hungarian members of private pension funds had until the end of January to opt out of a move, along with their retirement savings, back to the state pension pillar. About 97% of members returned to the state pillar, bringing some HUF 2,946bn in assets with them.