Survey finds corruption widely accepted among Hungarian executives [2]
Corruption is an organic part of business life in the view of a large majority of Hungarian executives, according to a survey by consultancy Ernst & Young. Some 70% of respondents take corruption for granted, similar to the 74% East European average, but far above the 39% figure for Western Europe. [more]
OTP head Csányi remains title of “richest Hungarian” [2]
OTP chairman and CEO Sándor Csányi continues to be Hungary’s richest person, with assets of Ft 135 billion, unchanged from last year, according to Napi Gazdaság’s annual list of the 100 wealthiest Hungarians. [more]
Hungary fines Bloomberg news millions for mistake lasting seconds [6]
The Bloomberg news agency has received a fine of 10 million forints (EUR 33,500) for publishing inaccurate information about central bank’s rate cut last week. [more]
Hungary’s budget deficit for 2012 comes in below 2% of GDP
Hungary’s budget deficit came to 1.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2012, well under the 4.0 percent average for all European Union member states, data compiled by Eurostat showed. Hungary’s budget deficit was the seventh lowest in the European Union. [more]
Matolcsy: We’ve only just started changing Hungary’s monetary policy
The renewal of Hungarian monetary policy has “only just begun,” Gyorgy Matolcsy, the new governor of the National Bank of Hungary (NBH), told MTI in an exclusive interview. Price stability and financial stability are “fine” but the operation of the domestic financial system is too costly, Matolcsy said in his first interview since taking up his new post just over a month ago. [more]
Hungary’s new euro convergence plan projects faster growth, smaller deficit – but slower euro adoption
Hungary’s updated convergence plan forecasts faster growth and more reductions to the budget deficit between 2013 and 2016, the Economy Ministry said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the economy minister said it would be a long time before Hungary would be able to meet the criteria for joining the euro zone. [more]
House prices in Hungary fall for sixth straight year
House prices in Hungary fell 2.2 percent on average in nominal terms last year, and were 7.4 percent lower in real terms compared with 2011, according to a report published on Thursday. House prices have fallen every year since 2007, FHB Mortgage Bank said. The steepest fall, 11.2 percent in nominal terms, came in 2009. [more]
Renationalization speeds up in Hungary
Hungary’s fast-expanding re-nationalisation programme, led by former anti-Communist activist Viktor Orban, on Thursday took a great leap forward. MVM, the state electricity company and emerging energy combine, is to pay around €870m for full control of E.ON Földgáz Trade and E.ON Földgáz Storage, the Hungarian gas trading and storage companies currently owned by Germany’s E.ON.
Varga: We never considered kidnapping bank depositors to plug the deficit [5]
Speaking at some kind of “Investor of the Year” award gala last night in Budapest, Economy Minister Mihály Varga went out of his way to stress that, unlike Cyprus, Hungary had never even considered taxing bank deposits as a way to raise revenue. [more]
