Hungary became the subject of international attention after the country was secretly received a record loan from Chinese banks. According to Politico, in the spring of 2024, Budapest concluded an agreement with three Chinese banks worth 1 billion euros, which became the largest loan in the history of Hungary.
The credit granted to the China Development Bank, the China's export-import bank and the Hungarian branch of the China Bank, Hungary has been fully used on April 19 and should be extinguished for three years.
It is worth noting that Budapest did not announce the agreement - it was officially known only now after the publication of government debt management.
“The credit agreement allows, among other things, to finance investments in the infrastructure and the energy sector. The agreement allows you to maintain the ratio of public debt to GDP within the limit level of 28.9%, ”the message reads.
The department did not reveal other details of the loan, including the size of the interest rate and the repayment schedule.
Hungary's record loan became known against the record growth of its public debt up to 140 billion euros (73.5% of GDP) and a budget deficit of 6.7% of GDP while the country has no access to funding from EU funds due to conflict with Brussels.
In 2023, the European Commission decided to thaw 10 billion euros for Hungary, that is, about a third of the amount blocked by a number of problems with the rule of law in the country. Before that, information about the refusal to thaw such a tranche for Budapest.
By the way, Foreign Minister Peter Siyarto has confirmed that the European Union has agreed to send € 1.4 billion from frozen Russian assets for Ukraine's military support, but Budapest intends to challenge it.
