Retail savings up annual 11 pc at end June

Budapest, September 8 (MTI) – Hungarian private individuals’ financial assets increased by nearly 11 percent in one year, as households are able to save more after paying off debt, business daily Vilaggazdasag said.

Bank deposits are less popular because of their low interest rates, and small investors tend to buy government securities and investment units instead, the paper said in its Monday issue.

Households had total savings of 26,390 billion forints (EUR 83.87bn) at the end of June this year, up 11 percent year-on-year, according to National Bank of Hungary data.

Hungarians increased their financial assets by nearly 25 percent in two years and by more than 35 percent in three years. Households’ net assets have increased by 75 percent since the spring of 2009, the paper said.

Retail assets dropped temporarily three times since the crisis, always due to a weakening of the forint, which increased the value of household debt. The first such drop was recorded in late 2008 – early 2009, the second just after the 2010 general election in April and the third in the third quarter of 2011, when the government announced its early repayment scheme for borrowers, the paper said.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters