Russian Sberbank lost license in Hungary

The National Bank of Hungary (NBH) has said it withdrew the lending licence of Russian-owned Sberbank Hungary because of its “serious liquidity and capital situation” amid international sanctions against Russia and ordered the credit institution to be wound up.

The central bank and financial market watchdog noted that the EU’s Single Resolution Board (SRB) said late on Tuesday that it had ordered Sberbank Hungary’s parent company, Austria-based Sberbank Europe, to be wound up. Hungary’s National Deposit Insurance Fund (OBA) will pay Sberbank Hungary clients compensation up to the 100,000 euro coverage threshold within ten days.

The NBH said the measures “have no impact on the other members of Hungary’s financial system, which continue to serve their clients steadfastly in the usual manner”.

• Read also: Shell to restrict fuel purchases in Hungary!

Meanwhile, Hungary’s GDP grew by an annual 7.1 percent in the fourth quarter, bringing full-year growth to 7.1 percent, too, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said in a second reading of data on Wednesday. The Q4 figure was revised downward from 7.2 percent in the first reading released on February 15, but full-year growth was unchanged.

KSH noted that full-year GDP was up 2.1 percent compared with 2019, the year before the coronavirus crisis. Adjusted for seasonal and calendar year effects, fourth-quarter GDP rose by an annual 7.0 percent. In a quarter-on-quarter comparison, adjusted GDP rose by 2.0 percent.

Read alsoCentral bank may intervene: a record weak forint poses a serious threat to the Hungarian economy

Source: MTI