Bankmonitor: More than 19,000 billion HUF is lying unsecured with Hungarians

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 05. 20. 12:10

According to MNB statistics, Hungarians held 19,236.1 billion forints in cash and freely in their bank accounts in the first quarter of 2025. Every Hungarian has more than 2 million forints of untied money. But how much did the population fail by leaving so much money lying idle?

According to preliminary data from the MNB, in the first quarter of 2025, Hungarian households held 7,063.4 billion forints in cash, and an additional 12,172.8 billion forints were lying freely in bank accounts without being tied up. This is a total of 19,236.1 billion forints, which could easily have been found in a better place.

This value has increased significantly compared to the last quarter of 2024, when the population held 18,518.7 billion forints in cash and bank accounts. This in itself corresponds to an increase of 3.8 percent. In fact, compared to the first quarter of 2024, there is a 12.4 percent increase.

According to the Central Statistical Office (KSH), the Hungarian population on January 1, 2025 was 9,540,000, which means that every Hungarian has 2,016,367 forints, which were either in cash at home or in a bank account without a deposit.

How much would Hungarians have gained if they invested this amount?

Cash, of course, does not earn interest, and at most banks, the interest rate on demand deposits is negligible. There are special savings accounts whose interest rates are understandable – currently around 3-4% -, but it is likely that a significant part of the demand balance is/was not in such accounts.

According to Bankmonitor experts, significantly higher interest rates could have been achieved with some retail government securities in the recent period. The initial annual interest rate of the 2032/J PMÁP, available for one year, was 7.90%. If the redemption rate was 99% – i.e. 1% of the cost of sale -, the investment would still yield 6.90%. At such an interest rate, more than 1,327 billion forints could have been achieved in one year with the entire unsecured portfolio in the first quarter of 2025. This is 139,129 forints per person, which is roughly how much Hungarians lost because they did not invest their money in a relatively low-risk product.

Of course, even higher returns can be achieved with other investments, but they are associated with a different level of risk.