State-owned Hungarian Development Bank (MFB) and its affiliates made commitments of more than HUF2.3 trillion (€6.44bn) in new financing in 2020, contributing around 0.8% to GDP, the MFB said in a statement on January 25.

Its new liabilities on loans, including EU loans, has exceeded HUF1.2 trillion in 2020, and the bank says it is prepared to maintain this dynamic in the years to come.

In addition to the comprehensive lending to micro-companies and SMEs, the bank also achieved significant results in the financing of typically large-scale investments and projects requiring more than HUF1bn of funding. Outlays of reimbursable EU funds were above targets.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the state-owned development bank has developed in a short time a package covering its entire financing portfolio, offering credit, equity, and guarantee solutions for companies' development and liquidity needs, MFB said.

A restructured EU financing product portfolio was one of the most important tools of the bank to help companies manage their temporary liquidity problems because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The acceptance rate for loan applications in the last EU budget cycle between 2014-2020 reached 94%, MFB noted. In 2021 MFB is looking forward to the rise of development and investment lending, with the aim of dynamically following the situation in each economic sector and aiming to provide a quick financing solution to companies' most pressing problems. 

The bank will prioritise the financing of projects that require significant resources and have a significant potential to create and maintain jobs.

A bill approved last year broadened the scope of activities of the bank, allowing MFB and investment funds included in its holding to acquire stakes in companies even without providing those companies with credit or venture capital. The regulation clears MFB to issue guarantees for corporate bonds and for leases.