Factsheet for measure
HU-2020-29/3394
–
Updated
– measures in Hungary
Support for banks with green loans
Zöld Tőkekövetelmény-kedvezmény program
Background information
In 2021 The National Bank of Hungary received a 'green mandate' based on an amendment of Act 139 of 2013 on the central bank, making it official that the central bank should encourage sustainability goals in the activities of financial institutions. In line with this goal, the central bank announced easing capital requirements for banks on green lending, including loans to finance energy-efficiency improving home investments, as well as company and local government investments with sustainability goals. Programmes already started at the end of 2019 were extended and modified and a new programme targeting green loans for businesses and local governments was added at the end of 2020.
Content of measure
Banks are eligible for the programme officially called Green Preferential Capital Requirement Programme if they offer green loans – mortgages or personal loans - to:
-
Private individuals with the aim of buying, building or modernising a home with an energy-saving outcome.
-
Apartment buildings or housing associations with energy-saving upgrade plans.
-
Businesses and local governments (in a programme started in 2021 called
Capital requirement reduction for green company and local government loans
).
Banks usually waive all early repayment and administrative fees on green loans, but the actual interest rates are not much lower than for regular mortgages. Banks are also obligated to register energy efficiency information about the investments their loans are financing as well as checking that the investment qualifies as green according to its Authentic Energy Certificate (HET). Originally banks were obligated to offer at least a 0.3 ppt discount on their green loans, but this condition was later scrapped and now this is only a recommendation.
Updates
The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.
|
03 February 2025
|
The Fiscal Stability Council of the National Bank of Hungary extended the programme for another year until 31 December 2026 with a view to further extension possibilities, economx reported.
|
|
05 September 2023
|
The programme was extended to apply the reduction for up to five years for contracts signed between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2025. The list of eligible green goals in loans was amended to include modernisation of energy networks, energy storage, greener district heating and use of renewables. For home loans, buildings built before 1990 can be assumed to be energy inefficient and no certification of this is needed, according to the financial portal
money.hu
. The primary energy need of purchased/modernised homes was further lowered to 68 kWh per year for loans signed after 1 Nov 2023.
|
|
09 June 2022
|
The programme specifications are updated to stress that the loans offered must finance investments which achieve energy efficiency savings. The primary energy need of the purchased/modernised home was lowered from 90 kWh per year to 80 kWh per year for loans signed after June 2022. Also it is a requirement that at least 30% of energy savings are made as a result of the purchase/renovation of resale homes
|
|
26 November 2021
|
The programme for home loans is redrafted including more specifications for energy efficiency in investments
|
Use of measure
In November 2023 four banks offered green home loans, at interest rate discounts of 0-0.5%. Waived fees can amount up to one-off savings of HUF 150,000 (about €400) on these loans. According to the National Bank of Hungary’s Green Financial Report 2023, green home loans totalled HUF 98 billion in December 2022, up from HUF 9 billion in December 2021, while green business loans were up to HUF 329 billion from HUF 219 billion in the same period. The report points out that green business loans grew by 50% while growth in the total business loan segment was 15.5% in the year from December 2021 to December 2022.
The value of green exposures under the programme exceeded HUF 1,345 billion by the end of 2024, up 54%
year-on-year, according to the central bank’s Green Finance Report 2025. The share of green loans within corporate lending reached 5.4%, while in case of housing loans provided to households, 5.5%. Regarding borrower-based measures that are meant to mitigate the systemic risks of household sector lending, more favourable rules are introduced for energy-efficient residential properties from 2025. The report cites analysis showing that green corporate loans exhibited significantly lower default risk compared to conventional loans, which makes the programme deemed a success.
Target groups
|
Workers
|
Businesses
|
Citizens
|
|
Does not apply to workers
|
Applies to all businesses
|
Applies to all citizens
|
Actors and funding
|
Actors
|
Funding
|
National government
Company / Companies
|
European Funds
National funds
National Recovery and Resilience Facility
|
Social partners
Social partners' role in
designing the measure
and form of involvement:
|
Trade unions
|
Employers' organisations
|
|
Role
|
No involvement
|
No involvement
|
|
Form
|
Not applicable
|
Not applicable
|
Social partners' role in the
implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
-
No involvement
-
Main level of involvement: N/A
Involvement
No involvement by social partners.
Views and reactions
No available information.
Sources
-
16 July 2020: Info on green loans support July 2020
(www.mnb.hu)
-
01 May 2022: Green Financial Report 2022
(www.mnb.hu)
-
16 February 2023: Info on support for green company and loc govt loans
(mnb.hu)
-
01 April 2023: Green Financial Report 2023
(www.mnb.hu)
-
06 September 2023: Info on green loans support Sept 2023
(www.mnb.hu)
-
06 September 2023: Money.hu-New conditions for green loans
(tudastar.money.hu)
-
01 July 2024: Green Finance Report 2024 - central bank
(www.mnb.hu)
-
01 September 2024: Kim, D., Raciborski, E., Várgedő, B.(2024) Az MNB zöld tőkekövetelmény-kedvezmény tapasztalatai és a program meghosszabbítása.(Experiences and extension of the Central Bank's green capital requirement reduction programme) HITELINTÉZETI SZEMLE, 23 (3). pp. 195-211.
(real.mtak.hu)
-
03 February 2025: Cbank extends important reduction - economx
(www.economx.hu)
-
01 May 2025: Cbank: Green Finance Report 2025
(www.mnb.hu)
-
12 June 2025: Act 58 of 2015 on energy efficiency
(njt.hu)
-
18 September 2025: Capital requirement reduction for banks with green loans programme
(zoldpenzugyek.mnb.hu)
