It has come to light that George Soros lost money on the Hungarian bond program, raising serious questions about the reals reasons for Transparency’s criticism of the scheme.
Between 2012 and 2016, the Hungarian government had to pay back IMF loans taken on by the socialist Gyurcsány government. Hungary repaid the debt from the proceeds of foreign currency and residency bonds. This went against Soros’s interests.
According to Kormany.hu, organizations paid by Soros, including Transparency International, are criticizing the Hungarian Residency Bond Program because of this. The Hungarian State Debt Management Agency’s calculations published today reveals the details.
The Residency Bond Program has resulted in major interest savings for the state. Following a period of crisis, the Residency Bond Program facilitated Hungary’s financing.
The program contributed to the repayment of the high-interest IMF loan taken on prior to 2010, the interest rate of which exceeded 4 percent when the final payment was made in May 2013, in contrast to the 2.53 percent annual interest rate of the Hungarian Residency Bond at the time.
The Hungarian State issued a total of 1.84 billion euros in Hungarian Residency Bonds between 2013 and 2017. Thanks to the favorable interest conditions determined when the program was launched, the interest expenditure of sovereign debt was reduced.
In recent years, the financing situation of Hungary’s sovereign debt has improved significantly. In 2017, macroeconomic processes and the intensive improvement of state financing enabled the suspension of the issuing of Hungarian Residency Bonds.