Economy 24 February 2026, 9:10am

Hungary's Economy Minister names four banks that are still welcome

Portfolio

On Monday, Márton Nagy, Hungary's Economy Minister, spoke at a conference organised by the National University of Public Service (NKE) in Budapest, once again emphasising the need for consolidation in Hungary's banking sector. He reiterated his previous assertion that only five large banks should remain, and this time he specified the four banks that could remain.

Márton Nagy said that, in most sectors of the economy, the share of added value generated by domestically controlled companies has increased over the past 15 years. However, this has not been the case in several sectors.

He expressed his disappointment that the share of domestically controlled companies in the retail sector had fallen from 41 percent to 40 percent.

He also mentioned telecommunications, IT and construction materials as sectors in which foreign companies still dominate. He reiterated his earlier statement that there should be five major banks in the banking sector, and that there is still work to be done:

OTP,
MBH Bank,
K&H and
UniCredit.

He noted that the "fifth place currently up for grabs."

According to the central bank's (MNB) classification, which has been in place since 2021,

there are currently seven major banks operating in Hungary.

These are commercial banks with a balance sheet total of over HUF 3,000 billion. Therefore, it seems that Márton Nagy would still consider merging two major banks to form a single domestic credit institution group to be desirable. The seven major banks, ranked by their consolidated total assets at the end of 2024, are as follows:

OTP,
MBH,
K&H,
UniCredit,
Erste,
Raiffeisen,
CIB,

Two of them (OTP and MBH) have decision-making centres in Hungary, while two others (Erste and Raiffeisen) have theirs in Austria. Two more (UniCredit and CIB) have theirs in Italy, and one (K&H) has theirs in Belgium. Incidentally, Márton Nagy made memorable statements in 2014 and 2019 suggesting that there should be five major banks.

According to our interpretation, there are seven major banks operating in Hungary, four of which he named specifically. He placed CIB Bank, Erste Bank and Raiffeisen Bank in a separate category to the other four, suggesting that he does not welcome some of these banks in the country.

Minister sends a message to SMEs too

The minister said that since 2010, the number of export-capable SMEs has increased fivefold, from 3,000 to 15,000, and that Hungarian exports are sufficiently diversified, with a high proportion of high-tech products.

Márton Nagy dismissed the claims that Hungarian companies are disadvantaged in terms of support policy as false. Almost two-thirds of the funds allocated for business development in 2026 were given to small and medium-sized enterprises. He also mentioned the growing role of Hungarian households in financing the national debt. Since 2010, the share of foreigners in government securities has fallen by 14 percentage points, while the share of households has risen by 21 percentage points.

Price restrictions still necessary

Márton Nagy described price-restriction measures, such as margin reduction and mandatory promotions, as a necessary step because they reduce inflation. Some of these measures, which have been described as unorthodox, are also being applied in other European countries, he said.

Turning to the country's finances, he said that there is no "fiscal alcoholism", the budget deficit is under control and fell to 4.7% of GDP last year, and the deficit (ESA-based) is also under control. He added that the deficit is largely due to interest expenses, the primary balance is stable and the current account is in surplus. He added that growth in public debt must be reversed. Meanwhile, central bank reserves have risen to a historic high of over €60 billion and the banking system is stable.