SMEs’ optimism regarding public charges improved in the first quarter of the year

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 06. 26. 12:03

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The proportion of business leaders who believe that public charges will increase in the SME sector over the next one-year period has decreased by six percentage points. Overall, the indicator is still quite high, at 58 percent, according to the first quarter 2025 data of the K&H SME Confidence Index survey. However, in the past two years, only higher values have been read from the graph, and it has moved away by nearly ten percentage points from the 67 percent measured in the same period last year, the highest value ever. The perception of government measures among businesses has also improved further – although the mood is still negative, the indicator is getting closer to a turnaround.

The perception of the volume of expected public charges among SMEs has improved, according to the first quarter 2025 research data of the K&H SME Confidence Index. Fewer business leaders believe that the burdens imposed on them will increase in the next year, although nearly a third of respondents believe that they will not decrease, but will simply remain unchanged. However, the picture is quite unanimous regarding their impact: six out of ten believe that public charges negatively affect the situation of their company, according to one third of the entire sample, they have no significant influence on their company, and 5-5 percent believe that they have a positive impact on them or cannot judge.

Continued improvement in the assessment of government measures

The assessment of the business-friendliness of government measures has further improved. It is true that SMEs are still pessimistic, as the indicator stands at -6 points on a scale from -100 to +100, which is only a modest one-point increase in quarterly terms, but at the same time, compared to the first quarter of 2024, an improvement of 9 points can be seen from the -15 points at that time. This is due, among other things, to the Demján Sándor program launched in December, the implementation of which is progressing particularly well: the first interest rate reduction in the Széchenyi Card Program has taken place, the loan interest rate is now only 3.5 percent instead of the previous 5 percent, and loan requests from SMEs have already been received for about two-thirds (414 billion forints) of the original 600 billion forint credit limit.

“The smallest companies are often the most exposed to economic challenges, so it is a cause for hope if the optimism of company leaders is increasing. In the past two years, we have not measured such a low number among those forecasting increasing public charges. K&H is committed to supporting the SME sector, and we are constantly working to provide them with innovative banking services. Our goal is to help businesses grow and develop, which is why we also support them with a tender opportunity, where we reward the best brand collaborations. We believe that the successful operation of SMEs contributes to the strengthening of the economy as a whole,”

said Ildikó Oraveczné Németh, Marketing Manager of the K&H Retail and SME segment.