Hungary Central Bank Expands Lending Plan to Boost GDP

Hungary’s central bank will expand its Funding for Growth program through the end of 2014 in a bid to boost the economy after last year’s recession.

The Magyar Nemzeti Bank will provide as much as 2 trillion forint ($8.9 billion) in interest-free funding to commercial lenders, President Gyorgy Matolcsy told reporters today, extending a 750 billion-forint initiative that began in June. It will offer 500 billion forint starting October, with 90 percent earmarked for new loans to small and medium-sized companies.