BUDAPEST: Net of repayments, banks disbursed HUF 571.1 bln in loans as of May 29 to small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in the second phase of the National Bank of Hungaryʼs (MNB) Funding for Growth Scheme (FGS), the central bank said yesterday. The credit went to 17,668 businesses.
Contracts signed under phase II totaled HUF 738.9 bln by the end of May. Including the first phase of the scheme, from June-September 2013, contracts signed under the FGS amounted to approximately HUF 1.440 trillion, the central bank said. Under the FGS, The MNB provides zero-interest refinancing to banks, which they can lend to SMEs at an APR not exceeding 2.5%.
The central bank launched phase II of the scheme in October 2013 for an initial volume of HUF 500 bln, which it raised to HUF 1 trillion in September 2014.
