The Hungarian government is introducing new special taxes on companies

By: Trademagazin Date: 2024. 07. 08. 13:09

The Hungarian government announced the introduction of new measures aimed at reducing the budget deficit. On Monday, Gergely Gulyás Gulyás, the Government Information Officer, announced that multinational companies that have made extra profits will have to pay a so-called “defense contribution”. These companies include banks and energy companies.

Following the announcement, the share prices of OTP and Mol showed a significant decrease. The shares of OTP fell by 1.8 percent, while the shares of Mol fell by 2.4 percent. As a result of the measures, the BUX index also entered negative territory.

The new measures are expected to generate HUF 400 billion in revenue for the government, which is 0.5 percent of GDP. In addition, other changes have been announced, such as an increase in the transaction fee and the introduction of a new “currency exchange fee”, which will put additional burdens on financial institutions and large companies.

According to experts, the new measures will have a negative impact on investor sentiment and the HUF exchange rate. According to Péter Virovácz, ING Bank’s senior analyst, it will be possible to make deeper analyzes once the exact numbers are known, but it is already clear that the measures pose serious challenges to the sectors.