Hungarian business and financial news from the previous week

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

Government to buy EUR 2.3m worth building in Budapest for a Chinese university

That would be the Shanghai-based university’s first campus abroad. Based on a government decree, it will receive a building in Budapest to start its education program, details HERE.

MATOLCSY: INVESTMENT GROWTH, JOB CREATION AND CHEAP CREDIT KEY TO RECOVERY

National Bank of Hungary (NBH) governor György Matolcsy said investment growth, job creation and cheap credit will be necessary for Hungary’s economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis, in an interview in the daily Magyar Nemzet. “We have every chance for Hungary to achieve one of the fastest rates of post-crisis economic growth in the past century. But that will require achieving three things,” Matolcsy told the paper. “First, the investment rate must remain over 25 percent each year, and it has to be raised over 27 percent from 2022, because investments are the foundation for future economic growth,” he said. Matolcsy said the other two factors that must be achieved are creating as many jobs as have been lost because of the coronavirus crisis, and making cheap credit available to corporate and retail borrowers.

MOL: CROATIA EARTHQUAKE NO THREAT TO INA UPSTREAM, DOWNSTREAM BUSINESSES

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Croatia has put neither the upstream nor downstream businesses of local oil and gas company INA at risk, the communications department of Hungary’s MOL, which has management rights in INA, told MTI. The epicentre of the earthquake, near Petrinja, was 12km from INA’s industrial base in Sisak.

• The Croatian earthquake seriously rocked Hungary as well – VIDEOS, PHOTOS

HUNGARIAN PORK FROM AREAS UNAFFECTED BY ASF CLEARED FOR EXPORT TO JAPAN

Japan has agreed to allow imports of Hungarian pork from areas of the country that have not been affected by African swine fever (ASF), the Ministry of Agriculture said. The agreement was reached on December 16, after two years of negotiations involving Hungary’s chief veterinarian, Dr Lajos Bognar, and supported by the Hungarian embassy in Tokyo. Hungary is the first country in the world affected by ASF to reach a regionalisation agreement on pork imports with Japan, the ministry noted.

Hungarian households are in the most difficult situation in the EU

As seen plentifully in poor countries, food accounts for a large share of Hungarian household spending, and the slice has become even more significant in recent years. The consumption of Hungarian households is the second-lowest in the EU. Read more HERE.

RENEWABLES ACCOUNT FOR 18 PC OF HUNGARY’S HEATING, COOLING

In 2019 the share of energy from renewable sources for heating and cooling in households, industrial processes, hospitals, schools and other buildings accounted for 18.1 percent in Hungary, Eurostat said. The average share of energy from renewable sources for heating and cooling in the EU27 was 22.1 percent. The rate was highest at 66.1 percent in Sweden and lowest at 6.3 percent in Ireland.

GOVT REINTRODUCES SALARY SUPPORT FOR RESEARCHERS

Hungary’s government is offering salary support again to people working in research and development for up to three months, according to a decree published in the latest issue of the official gazette Magyar Közlöny.

Applications may be submitted for subsidies up to 318,920 forints (EUR 878) a month for researchers earning gross monthly 670,000 forints or more.

For researchers who earn less, the available subsidy is reduced proportionately to salary.

Source: MTI