Hungarian government adopts further proposals to restart economy
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The government has adopted further proposals by the body in charge of measures to restart the economy, mostly concerning Hungary’s position in the international competition for investments, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday.
Concerning the proposals, Szijjártó said that one concerned construction material production, a sector in which prices have sharply increased recently. He said that the government sought to improve the market positions of Hungarian companies, and decided to provide a 5.5 billion forint grant to a 14 billion forint (EUR 39.3m) project aimed at producing construction materials with a special technology in Biharkeresztes, in southeastern Hungary.
Under another proposal, Hungary’s Exim Bank will provide subsidised loans totalling 100 billion forints to the full range of the Hungarian business sector, Szijjártó said, adding that so far some 500 billion forints had been distributed among 1,000 companies.
He also announced a new development loan programme for micro businesses using a budget of 50 billion forints in the next 10 years.
Borrowers will have 10 years to pay off their debt with an interest rate of 0.5 percent, Szijjártó added. He argued that banks were not interested in providing loans to the smallest companies because the loans were small and involved too much bureaucracy, adding that “it is important that the state assists them”.