State could seal deal for Budapest Bank by Dec

Budapest, May 29 (MTI) – The government of Hungary aims to seal a deal to buy Budapest Bank from GE by December, Economy Minister Mihaly Varga said in an interview with Reuters published on Friday.

The government signed a preliminary contract on the purchase of the bank from GE last December. Earlier, the transaction was expected to close at the end of the first half of this year.

Varga told Reuters that merging Budapest Bank with MKB, which the state acquired from BayernLB last September, would be a “highly logical step”. He added that the state was not planning to buy any more banks.

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