Economy 1 December 2025, 3:05pm

There has been a turnaround in corporate credit demand in Hungary, but not due to investments

Portfolio

Both the household and corporate loan markets picked up in 2025 Q3, resulting in an 11.8% increase in household loans outstanding of credit institutions and a 4.1% increase in the corporate loan portfolio year on year, the Hungarian central bank (MNB) reported on Monday. Based on the MNB’s Lending Survey, in the next six months banks expect the upturn in demand for housing loans seen during the quarter to continue as a result of the Home Start loan programme. According to the banks’ responses, the decline in Q3 corporate credit demand is expected to turn into growth in 2025 Q4 and 2026 Q1.

Retail lending

Household loans outstanding of the credit institution sector increased by HUF 338 billion in 2025 Q3 as a result of disbursements and repayments. This brought the annual growth rate to 11.8% at the end of September 2025, making domestic credit dynamics rank fifth in the EU, significantly exceeding the average growth rate of the Visegrad countries (5.6%). The value of housing loan transactions fell by 21% quarter on quarter, which can be explained by deferred demand and a “wait-and-see” attitude due to the Home Start Programme announced in early July and available from September.

The volume of new household loan contracts amounted to HUF 834 billion in the third quarter, up 11% from the level of loan issuance in the same period of the previous year. Within this, the volume of new personal loan contracts grew by 34%, while the volume of new housing loans remained unchanged.

The expansion of personal loan issuance was supported by

online availability,
targeted customer outreach with pre-approved offers,
top-ups, and
higher contract sizes concluded.

Personal loans are increasingly being used for refinancing own funds and loans, but the characteristics of personal loan debtors still do not indicate increased risk levels. Within the Subsidised Loans for Workers programme, banks signed contracts worth HUF 141 billion by the end of September, of which HUF 34 billion was realised in the third quarter. Due to the usual processing time associated with mortgage lending, most of the first Home Start contracts were only concluded at the end of September: 651 contracts worth HUF 22 billion were concluded during the quarter. Home Start loans accounted for one-fifth of new housing loan contracts in September.

In 2025 Q3, banks provided market-based housing loans at an average interest rate of 6.5% (APR: 6.8%), which was unchanged from the previous quarter, and taking into account state-subsidised schemes, the average client interest rate payable by new borrowers fell to 5.1% in September as a result of Home Start. The increasing competition seen in the market of personal loans reduced both interest rates and spreads, with interest rates on personal loans falling to around 15% in the third quarter.

Based on the responses to the MNB’s Lending Survey, banks did not change their housing loan terms overall in 2025 Q3, one-fifth of them eased their consumer loan standards. In 2025 Q3, banks saw an upturn in households’ credit demand.

Demand for housing loans is expected to continue to pick up in the next six months (net 66%) due to the Home Start Programme.

Corporate lending

Loans outstanding of credit institutions to non-financial corporations increased by HUF 242 billion in 2025 Q3, bringing the annual growth rate from 2.0% at the end of the previous quarter to 4.1%. According to preliminary data, loans outstanding of the SME sector grew by 4.8% year on year. The growth rate of domestic corporate loan portfolio is in the middle of the EU range, above the EU average but below the 7% average of the Visegrad countries.

In 2025 Q3, the HUF 838 billion volume of new, non-overdraft corporate loans exceeded the volume issued in the same period of the previous year by 5%. The proportion of subsidised loans was 26% of new – non-overdraft type – contracts in the third quarter, and 33% in the case of SMEs. The Demján Sándor Programme contracts concluded contributed significantly to the increase in the proportion of subsidised loans in 2025 Q3, breaking the decline observed since 2023.

In terms of price-related conditions, based on market-based transactions with a maximum interest-rate period of one year, small-amount (maximum contract size of EUR 1 million) forint loans were contracted at an interest rate of 9.1% (with a 2.6-percentage point spread), while large-amount loans (above EUR 1 million) were contracted at an interest rate of 8.2% (with a 1.7-percentage point spread) in 2025 Q3.

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

The decline in corporate loan demand in the third quarter is expected to turn into growth in 2025 Q4 and 2026 Q1

due to rising financing needs and the reduction in interest rates under the Széchenyi Card Programme at the beginning of October. However, banks do not expect a turnaround in long-term investment loan demand.

Cover image (for illustration purposes only): Getty Images