Stating that the amount of foreign ownership of Hungarian banks is not healthy, he said, the government would like to see 50% of the banking sector in Hungarian hands.

As there is hardly any business in Hungary that can repay the 8-10% interest currently applied on loans, cheaper loans should be available, he added.

He suggested that the majority state-owned Takarékbank as well as Magyar Posta could have a larger role in financing Hungary’s economy.

Orbán went on to say that the government should address the problem of the foreign-currency debts owed by SMEs, but so far there have been insufficient funds available to resolve this. This problem should be solved in the first half of the year by allowing SMEs to convert their foreign-currency loans into forint debt, Orbán said.

Source: Hungary Around the Clock

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