Left-wing daily endorses new government plan on forex mortgages

An editorial in the most read left wing daily describes the new measures to ease the burden of forex debtors as fair and balanced.
Earlier this autumn the government set a deadline for banks to come up with a new plan to help debtors by November 1st. After dismissing the plan of the Bank Alliance, Fidesz floor leader Antal Rogán put forward a proposal to extend the fixed exchange rate scheme to all debtors (regardless of the total amount of the debt) and announced a moratorium on evictions for the winter. (See BudaPost September 13). The government also makes clear that this is not their final suggestion to tackle the forex mortgages but an interim measure.

According to the editorial in Népszabadság, the forex mortgage problem is the most intractable issue the government inherited and it cannot be solved in one step. Therefore, they say, the new law codifying Rogán’s suggestion is a good solution for the short term, by easing the burden of debtors without pressing the banks too hard. The government seems to have realized, they add, that there is a limit to what banks can be made to bear without damaging the economy. Therefore they decided to stick with their new policy: ‘tough words, soft actions and the apartment complex at Ócsa’ (a controversial low-quality state funded housing centre for the evicted).

Tags: forex debt, Rogán