Hungarian exports make up 95 percent of GDP, a figure that places the country in the top slot together with Slovakia in Central and Eastern Europe, while it is ranked 4th-5th among the 28 member states of the EU, Minister of State Zoltán Cséfalvay said at press conference jointly organized by the Ministry for National Economy and Eximbank.

The Minister of State pointed out that Eximbank’s export credit programme, which have been joined by a substantial number of domestic lending institutions, is a new growth engine for the Hungarian economy.

Eximbank CEO Roland Nátrán stressed that the current overall amount of the Refinancing Export Credit Framework (EHP) is EUR 750 million, but this fund is a continuously increasing and extending resource provided for Hungarian exporters.

Zoltán Cséfalvay emphasised, the fact that the state budget has firm fundamentals, the economy has returned to growth, domestic demand is on the rise and Hungarian enterprises can obtain ever larger EU funding underpin Hungary’s economic expansion. Speaking about EU resources, Zoltán Cséfalvay pointed out that Hungarian enterprises received HUF 1200bn in 2012 and HUF 1500bn in 2013 in the form of EU funding, while according to plans they will obtain some HUF 2000 this year.

As far as trade and exports are concerned, Zoltán Cséfalvay emphasised that Hungary’s current account and trade balances are in the green with significant surpluses since 2010 and these substantially contribute to economic growth.

Zoltán Cséfalvay pointed out that Hungarian enterprises can obtain low-cost forint loan facilities through the Funding for Growth Scheme of the National Bank of Hungary and receive low-cost foreign currency resources through Eximbank’s Refinancing Export Credit Framework (EHP).

Speaking about the programme, Roland Nátrán said that via EHP Eximbank has significantly expanded refinancing activities and Eximbank has already as many as 21 banking partners to work with. He stressed that EHP has no funding ceiling, and in addition to the already ongoing credit facilities with a tenor of two-plus years they have also launched short-dated, fixed-interest export refinancing instruments with a tenor of less than two years.

Roland Nátrán added that the key advantage enterprises have when opting for EHP is that at the time of concluding a contract the basis for calculating payable interest rates is CIRR (Commercial Interest Reference Rate), the OECD’s monthly fixed interest rate, which for euros currently is 1.45 percent for 2-5 years.

The CEO also said that under the EHP programme, updated in 2013, the bank intends to lend for Hungarian exporters and suppliers some HUF 500bn (as part of the EUR 750 million total) with preferential rates over two years, in 2013-2014, while Eximbank is also active as a direct lender. For this year, Roland Nátrán added, Eximbank is planning lending of HUF 280-300bn, the two-thirds of which are aimed at SMEs.

(Ministry for National Economy)