Orban Cites Deleveraging in Rebuff of Hungary Tax Criticism

Hungary’s decision to backtrack on a pledge to cut the European Union’s highest bank tax in half won’t hurt the economy after lenders withdrew financing from the country, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.

“Banks stopped lending already, the deleveraging project is going on in Hungary,” Orban said in an interview in Bucharest yesterday. “Bank taxation has no impact on Hungarian activity.”