Economy 17 September 2025, 9:00am

Hungary's retail lending growth ranked high in EU even before launch of Home Start loan scheme

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Household lending continued to pick up in Hungary in the second quarter of 2025, with credit institutions’ household loans outstanding expanding at a year-on-year rate of 11.7%. According to the Hungarian central bank's (MNB) Lending Survey, banks expect the upturn in demand for housing loans seen during the quarter to intensify in the second half of the year, due to the Home Start loan programme. According to the banks' responses, corporate loan demand decreased in the second quarter, while they experienced an upturn in the financing of housing projects, and thus the credit institutions’ corporate loans outstanding continued to expand at a moderate rate in June, by 2.0% year-on-year. In order to strengthen corporate lending, the MNB launched the Certified Corporate Loan (CCL) certification.

Retail lending growth ranked 5th in the EU

The credit institution sector’s household loans outstanding increased by HUF 394 billion in Q2 as a result of disbursements and repayments, boosting the annual growth rate to 11.7% from 10.9% at the end of the previous quarter. Domestic credit growth ranked fifth in the EU at the end of June, significantly exceeding the average growth rate for the Visegrád countries (4.9%).

The volume of new household loan contracts amounted to HUF 886 billion in April-June this year, up 21% versus the same period of 2024.

In the case of housing loans, disbursement increased 13% year on year, while personal loans rose 34%. The expansion of personal loan disbursement was supported by pre-approved loans readily accessible online, the growing proportion of usage for housing purposes, top-ups and the higher contract sizes available. Within the framework of the Subsidised Loans for Workers programme launched in January 2025, more than 12,000 contracts worth approximately HUF 48 billion were concluded in the second quarter, accounting for 5% of total lending.

In Q2 2025, banks provided market-based housing loans at an average interest rate of 6.5% (APR: 6.8%), which was unchanged from the previous quarter; taking into account state-subsidised schemes, the average client interest rate payable by new borrowers was 5.7%.

Based on the responses to the MNB’s Lending Survey, one-fifth of the banks tightened their standards for both housing loans and consumer loans in Q2, primarily by raising spreads. In H2, the banks expect to leave their housing lending standards unchanged, in order to keep up with housing market trends and grow their market share. In Q2, one-third of the banks saw rising demand for credit in the housing loan market, but looking ahead

more than two-thirds expect demand to accelerate further, due to the Home Start loan programme.

In the second quarter, 24% of the institutions surveyed reported a further increase in demand for consumer loans, while 13% of the banks only expect demand for home equity loans to strengthen in the next half-year period.

Corporate lending in the middle of the EU range

Credit institutions’ loans outstanding to non-financial corporations increased by HUF 315 billion in Q2 this year, bringing the annual growth rate to 2.0% at the end of June, in line with the previous quarter. The loans outstanding of the SME sector grew 2.4% year on year. The growth rate of the domestic corporate loan portfolio ranks in the middle of the EU range, slightly above the EU average, but below the 7% average of the Visegrad countries.

In Q2, the volume of new, non-overdraft forms of credit to the corporate sector amounted to HUF 1,456 billion, exceeding the volume disbursed in the same period of the previous year by 36%.

The robust expansion in new disbursements during the quarter was driven strongly by large individual transactions and contracts concluded under the Demján Sándor Programme.

The share of subsidised corporate loans in new contracts was 19% in the quarter, exceeding the 15% share recorded in the previous year. The proportion of subsidised loans in the SME segment was 32% in the period under review, compared to 25% in the past year.

The average spread on newly originated forint loans with up to 1-year initial rate fixation, concluded with companies largely on a market basis, increased by 0.3 percentage point compared to the previous quarter in the case of small-amount loans, and thus reached 2.3 percentage points in the quarter, bringing the average interest rate on these loans to 8.8% in the quarter. For large-amount forint loans, the interest rate remained unchanged at 8.3%.

The banks participating in the Lending Survey left their standards on corporate loans unchanged in the second quarter and do not plan to change them in the next six months.

A net 11% of the banks eased their terms on commercial real estate loans, but plan to tighten them in this segment going forward due to the challenges in the office market. 30% of the banks surveyed reported a drop in corporate loan demand in 2025 Q2, with the decline mainly affecting forint loans and long-term loans. Banks do not expect growth in corporate loan demand in the second half of the year either. However, 44% of the respondents saw a pick-up in demand for loans to finance housing projects in the second quarter, which could strengthen further thanks to improving sentiment in real estate investment.

In response to the subdued corporate lending growth and in order to strengthen competition in the banking system, the MNB launched the Certified Corporate Loan (CCL) certification. The aim of the scheme, established following an agreement between the MNB and the Hungarian Banking Association, is to make investment loans available to a wide range of SMEs on market terms, with uniform and transparent conditions, quick and easy administration, and favourable pricing. Based on the detailed application conditions, credit institutions may request certification of their products from 1 August 2025.

Certified Corporate Loans available at four banks

Starting on 15 September, the new, favourable corporate loans are available at the branch offices of four banks: in addition to OTP Bank, Erste Bank and MBH Bank, the loan facility is now also being offered by K&H Bank, the MNB announced on Monday. The Certified Corporate Loan (CLL), launched on 1 August 2025, will make market-based investment loans with uniform, transparent terms and conditions available to a wide range of small and medium-sized enterprises, the MNB said.

The MNB highlighted that one of its priorities was

to stimulate investment activity and increase corporate competitiveness, which had suffered recently due to uncertainties in the global economy.

In the current environment, Hungarian banks had maintained strong lending capacity, providing an opportunity to support the dynamic development of lending. In light of this, the MNB launched the Certified Corporate Loan scheme, which "allows small and medium-sized enterprises to quickly and easily access favourable forint-based loans with transparent terms for their investments."

Borrowers can choose between variable or fixed interest rates and can obtain additional funds for a maximum of ten years, up to a minimum of HUF 300 million.

The MNB expects that the Certified Corporate Loan will foster quality change in the credit market and open up opportunities for secure growth for all small and medium-sized enterprises that are planning their next investment.

By providing a CLL rating for investment loan products that meet the application criteria, the MNB is able to support market-based lending which is sustainable and healthy over the long term, without central bank financing and without macroeconomic side effects, the bank said in a statement.

As of Monday, the new product is available at the branch offices of four banks: OTP Bank, Erste Bank, MBH Bank, and K&H Bank. The evaluation of bank applications is ongoing, and thus new credit institutions may soon join those offering Certified Corporate Loans.