Thursday May 21, 02:31 AM
IMF, banks pledge Hungarian economy commitment
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Six (Stockholm: ECOVB.ST - news) major foreign banks have pledged to maintain their presence in Hungary and will boost their local subsidiaries if necessary, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.
The six banks' committment will help the Hungarian financial system better weather the current economic crisis, said the Washington-based IMF following a meeting with the institutions in Brussels.
The move will also "strengthen investor confidence, and return the economy to a robust growth path," the IMF said in a statement.
The institutions -- Germany's Bayerische Landesbank (local subsidiary: MKB Bank), Austria's Erste Group Bank AG (Erste Bank Hungary), the Italian Intesa SanPaolo (CIB Bank), KBC Group, Raiffeisen International Bank Holding and UniCredit Bank Austria AGalso (UniCredit Bank Hungary) -- also issued a joint statement following the agreement.
"We are aware that it is in our collective interest and in the interest of Hungary for all of us to reconfirm, in a coordinated way, our commitment to maintain our overall exposure to Hungary," the banks said.
They also acknowledged that their subsidiaries in Hungary "will continue to adjust to the current challenging economic environment."
The need for "additional capital cannot be excluded, and will be met as necessary" for their subsidiaries, the group added.
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