Local banks slashed deposit interest rates by 50-75 basis points within a week after the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) cut its prime interest rate by 75 basis points on Feb. 22. Interest rates on loans, however, fell 75-100 basis points.

Hungarian Foreign Trade Bank Rt. (MKB) cut its “prime rate”, the interest rate offered to its best corporate clients, by 75 basis points to 13%, and trimmed other corporate loan interest rates by likewise 75 basis points.
However, interest rates on Hungarian forint-denominated home loans fell only 50 basis points at MKB.

Raiffeisen Bank Rt. lowered the interest rate on forint-denominated home loans by 100 basis points, while it cut interest rates on its euro-denominated home loans by 60 basis points and Swiss franc-denominated home loans by 100 basis points.

Erste Bank lowered interest rates on most of its mortgage loans by 50 basis points as of March 1. OTP Bank Rt. announced in February that as of March 1 it will start offering home loans for new apartments at interest rates 49 basis points lower than earlier.