Hungarian lenders' stock of prenatal baby support loans stood at HUF 1.534 trillion at the end of November, up HUF 32 bln from a month earlier, data released by the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) on Friday show.
The government introduced the unsecured, interest-free, general-purpose prenatal baby support loans up to HUF 10 million for families having children in July 2019. The loans are part of a package of family support measures designed to address the problem of depopulation and are available only until the end of 2022.
The prenatal baby support loans accounted for close to half of households' net borrowing of HUF 71 billion in November. Banks' retail loan books reached HUF 9.272 tln at the end of the month as a result.
Households made net deposits of HUF 150 bln during the month, lifting retail deposit stock to HUF 12.519 tln.