BUDAPEST: Swiss pesticide and seed company Syngenta is planning to launch a European financial center in Budapest in July, which would create 60 jobs for highly qualified staff, the company said in a statement yesterday.
Syngentaʼs Central European regional office has been in Budapest for years, the statement noted. Currently the company has a headcount over 350 in Hungary, with most of the employees working in marketing and sales, and some in production.Hungarian government bond issues on Thursday with rising yields showed markets continue to price in an eventual US Fed rate hike this year, although the Fedʼs Wednesday statement was interpreted as suggesting a further delay from June to September.
Meanwhile, fresh statistics on euro area inflation returning to zero in April after a four-month bout of deflation also underpinned the euro, leaving the Hungarian currency further down against it, and further up versus the dollar.
In a note on Thursday, Citigroup reckoned Hungaryʼs central bank would welcome a gradually weaker forint. The forint traded at 270.51 to the dollar, up from 271.51 late Wednesday. On Thursday, it moved between 269.32, a more than two-month high, and 273.67.
It was quoted at 288.76 to the Swiss franc, up from 289.04 late Wednesday. Its range on Thursday was 287.59 to 290.82, a four-day low after a nearly two-week high at 286.18 both Tuesday and Wednesday intraday. Since its crash to an all-time low at 378.49 on January 15 when the Swiss central bank scrapped its cap of 1.20 to the euro, it reached the highest at 281.07 on February 26.
