Orban’s Mortgage Freeze Triggers Biggest Bank Rout of Pandemic
- Government to fix mortgage rates at October level for 6 months
- OTP Bank shares fall 7.6%, dragging down Budapest stock index
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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is ordering a freeze on residential mortgage rates as he seeks to shore up support ahead of elections. The shares of the country’s biggest bank fell the most since the pandemic hit the country last year.
The government will cap rates on mortgages at October levels for six months starting in January, Orban said in a video on his Facebook page Wednesday.