HungaryTrends – The week in business and finance

See below the main business and financial news from the previous week:

New fabulous hotel opens in the heart of Budapest – PHOTOS

Spainʼs Barceló Group has opened the 179-room, four-star Barceló Budapest on Király utca after two years of development. The Spanish hotel group has signed a 25-year tenancy deal with developer the Sunbelt Group, owned by Hungarian investors. Read more HERE.

Hungary is the 4th cheapest EU member 

Since in 2018 prices became higher compared to 2017, Hungary ranked ‘only’ 4th among the cheapest EU member nations, whereas in 2017 it was third. Read more HERE.

Prominent labour shortage in the Hungarian in health-care sector 

Over 5 percent of jobs are unfilled in Hungary’s health-care sector, business daily Világgazdaság said on Friday, citing data from the Central Statistical Office (KSH). Read more HERE.

OTP closes acquisition of Societe Generale Banka Montenegro

OTP Bank announced the financial closure of its acquisition of Societe Generale banka Montenegro, Montenegro’s third-biggest bank. OTP’s Montenegrin unit Crnogorska Komercijalna banka sealed a deal in February to acquire a 90.56 percent stake in the local unit of France’s Societe Generale Group. Crnogorska Komercijalna banka earlier said it agreed to pay 35.6 million euros for the lender.

Data suggest plus bonds sucked savings from investment funds in June

Fresh data released by the Association of Hungarian Investment Fund and Asset Management Companies (BAMOSZ) suggested Hungarians liquidated a sizable amount of investment fund units in June to finance purchases of the government’s new Plus bond for retail investors. Net redemptions of units of investment funds managed by BAMOSZ members came to 179 billion forints (EUR 550m) in June, more than in any month in a decade, the farthest back the data on BAMOSZ’s website goes.

Source: MTI