Orban Struggles to Curb Foreign Demand for Hungarian Debt
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Foreign investors are building up forint bond holdings to the most in five months, driving yields to record lows, as they disregard efforts by Prime Minister Viktor Orban to cut Hungary’s reliance on international funding.
Non-residents raised their holdings of domestic government debt to 4.97 trillion forint ($21.9 billion) on June 12, the highest level since January, according to data from the Debt Management Agency. Foreigners held 41.7 percent of outstanding notes as of April, compared with 19 percent for higher-rated Romanian leu securities. The yield on Hungary’s benchmark 10-year forint bonds fell to a record 4.41 percent on June 6 and rose to 4.64 percent by 4:37 p.m. in Budapest.