Finance Minister Mihály Varga said Hungary’s banking sector remains stable, which bolsters the country’s resilience against crises, and the newly established MBH Investment Bank further strengthens competition.
At the event celebrating the establishment of the Hungarian-owned bank, Minister Varga said recent years had shown the importance of self-sufficiency and sovereignty in the economy and politics. International surveys, Varga said, had shown that the Hungarian banking sector was resilient against crises. The ratio of non-performing loans has been consistently below 4%, and the sector’s capital ratio is at 18%, well over the mandatory minimum, he said. Liquidity reserves are at 180% and the net stable funding ratio at 139%, both comfortably over the mandatory 100%, he added.
The minister said Hungarian-owned banks must have a leading role in the country’s market as they share an interest in the country’s good economic performance with the Hungarian corporate world. MBH was founded in multiple phases, and now it covers a large part of the Hungarian market along with OTP Bank as opposed to foreign-owned banks, he said. Varga said larger companies had the advantage in the globalised banking sector, and Hungarian banks still had room for progress in that area.