Finance Minister Mihály Varga said the government freeze of rates on retail mortgage loans in place for the first half of 2022 will save Hungarian families HUF 30 billion (EUR 83.9m).
According to MTI, the finance minister said over the weekend that the government is working to shield families from global price increases. The scheme to cap utility bills protects Hungarian households from soaring energy prices, he said, noting that the government had also capped fuel prices. But inflation is also affecting interest rates, the minister said. In the case of floating-rate mortgages, accelerated rate rises could have added 23 percent, or an average HUF 11,000, to borrowers’ monthly instalments, he added. Varga said the mortgage rate freeze would save some half a million families a combined HUF 30 billion. He said that in the year ahead the government would continue its fight against the pandemic, keep working to protect families from its effects on the economy and work to maintain the advantage Hungary had gained by the relatively early restart of its economy.
Photo credit: Facebook/Varga Mihály