Non-residents sold a total of HUF 761 billion worth of Hungarian government securities, mostly long-maturity bonds, and rid of HUF 262 bn worth of Hungarian stocks in the fourth quarter of 2008, the National Bank of Hungary (NBH) has reported on Monday. In the October-December period, the stock of Hungarian securities held by non-residents dropped by more than HUF 2,000 bn to below HUF 12,000 bn, while the exposure of the Hungarian banking system rose by nearly HUF 1,000 bn to HUF 6,000 bn.
At the end of the fourth quarter of 2008, non-resident and resident holdings of debt securities issued by Hungarian residents amounted to HUF 9,275 billion and HUF 11,613 billion, respectively. Non-residents held HUF 2,442 billion and residents HUF 1,088 billion, respectively, of quoted shares. Household holdings of mutual fund shares issued by Hungarian residents amounted to HUF 1,709 billion at the end of the review period.
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Government securities market
Measured at market value, Hungarian government debt securities outstanding totalled HUF 16,215 billion at the end of 2008 Q4. Within this figure, holdings of government bonds, treasury bills and MNB bills, respectively, amounted to HUF 12,885 billion, HUF 2,088 billion and HUF 1,242 billion. Holdings of foreign currency-denominated government securities amounted HUF 4,164 billion at the end of the period.
Non-residents held HUF 6,526 billion, financial corporations HUF 8,207 billion, households HUF 958 billion and other domestic sectors HUF 524 billion of government securities outstanding in the market. During the period, the market value of government securities rose by HUF 140 billion due to transactions (net issuance plus accrual of interest) and by HUF 191 billion due to the revaluation effect.
Other monetary financial institutions and the Magyar Nemzeti Bank were net buyers of the largest amounts of government securities, at HUF 703 billion and HUF 233 billion, respectively. By contrast, non-residents (HUF 761 billion) and other financial auxiliaries (HUF 130 billion) were net sellers of the largest amounts. The latter mainly sold long-term securities.
While the NBH's statistics cover the period up until the end of 2008, the daily figures provided by the Government Debt Management Agency (ÁKK) show that non-residents have considerably increased their forint-based Hungarian debt exposure at the beginning of this year.
The market value of mortgage bond holdings was HUF 1,961 billion at the end of 2008 Q4. Non-residents accounted for HUF 1,025 billion, financial corporations for HUF 800 billion, households for HUF 134 billion and other domestic sectors for HUF 2 billion of total holdings of mortgage bonds.
The value of mortgage bond holdings rose by HUF 79 billion (net issuance plus accrual of interest) and by HUF 89 billion due to the revaluation effect.
Total holdings of other bonds, calculated at market value, amounted to HUF 2,712 billion at the end of 2008 Q4. Non-residents held HUF 1,724 billion, financial corporations HUF 683 billion, households HUF 241 billion and other domestic sectors HUF 64 billion of other bonds outstanding in the market. Market holdings of other bonds increased by HUF 42 billion due to transactions (net issuance plus accrual of interest) and by HUF 121 billion due to the revaluation effect.
Quoted shares
Market capitalisation of quoted shares amounted to HUF 3,530 billion at the end of 2008 Q4. Non-residents accounted for HUF 2,442 billion, financial corporations for HUF 385 billion, households for HUF 262 billion, non-financial corporations for HUF 285 billion, general government for HUF 154 billion and non-profit institutions serving households for nearly HUF 1 billion of total holdings of quoted shares (taking into account stocks repurchased by issuers). There were no new listings or de-listings on the stock exchange in the review period.
The value of quoted shares fell by HUF 54 billion due transactions (arising from capital reduction by one firm and the introduction of another firm's shares resulting from capital increase) and by HUF 2,019 billion due to revaluations.
Almost every domestic sector was net buyer in the period. Households (HUF 106 billion), financial corporations (HUF 65 billion) and non-financial corporations (HUF 36 billion) were the largest net buyers. By contrast, non-residents were net sellers (HUF 262 billion).
Mutual fund shares issued by residents
Holdings of mutual fund shares, calculated at market value, amounted to HUF 2,503 billion at the end of 2008 Q4. Households held HUF 1,709 billion, financial corporations HUF 541 billion, non-financial corporations HUF 148 billion and other sectors (including non-residents) HUF 105 billion of mutual fund shares outstanding in the market. In the period, total holdings of mutual fund shares fell by HUF 352 billion due to transactions and by HUF 154 billion due to the revaluation effect.
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