In the spring of 2024, Hungary borrowed 1 billion euros from three Chinese banks, the largest loan in the country's history. This is evidenced by the data of the Hungarian Debt Management Office, cited by Politico, UNN reports.
Details
The loan provided by the China Development Bank, the Export-Import Bank of China and the Hungarian branch of the Bank of China was fully utilized on April 19 and is due to be repaid within three years.
Budapest itself did not announce the deal - it only became officially known now after the publication of data from the government's debt office.
“The loan agreement allows, among other things, to finance investments in infrastructure and the energy sector. The agreement allows to keep the ratio of public debt to GDP within the limit of 28.9%,” the statement said.
The agency did not disclose other details of the loan, including the interest rate and repayment schedule.
The record loan to Hungary was announced against the backdrop of a record increase in its public debt to 140 billion euros (73.5% of GDP) and a budget deficit of 6.7% of GDP, while the country has no access to EU funds due to the conflict with Brussels.
At the same time, Budapest is actively rapprochementing with Beijing, as evidenced by Xi Jinping's visit to Hungary in May, during which the parties signed a number of agreements on infrastructure projects, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's “peace mission” to China.