The Hungarian banking sector's combined pre-tax profit rose 40.4% in the first quarter of this year to HUF 58.7 billion, according to the quarterly report on financial sectors of the State Supervision of Financial Institutions (PSZAF). The sector's profitability shows no signs of the overall slowing of the Hungarian economy, PSZAF official Gyorgy Szepesi said.
Although approaching EU accession lowers the overall liquidity of the banking sector in the long term, the liquidity of the sector grew significantly in January, according to the report. This was due to the speculative attack against the currency system, when several billion euros entered the sector.
The liquidity of the sector decreased by the end of March, but the share of foreign assets remained high. Banks have restructured their portfolio over the past year, as parts of all liquid assets have been sold, while the rest was turned into state bonds.
