Major Austrian banks said Thursday they face payments of several hundred million euros after the Hungarian parliament passed a bill that reimburses borrowers for rising credit costs.
A spokesman for Erste Group said the institution expects payments of up to 360 million euros (458 million dollars), while Raiffeisen International said it will have to pay 240 million euros.
Both banks are among the biggest foreign lenders in Hungary and in Central and Eastern Europe.
More than a million Hungarians have taken out foreign currency loans since the year 2000. The loans – mostly in Swiss francs – were attractive because of their low interest rates.
However, as the value of the Hungarian forint fell, the value of the debt rose and debtors could no longer afford to pay back the money.
The parliament in Budapest passed a bill late on Wednesday that forces banks to refund credit clients for payments made because of the falling forint.
The government has said that these refunds amount to about 3 billion euros.
GNA
