Orban: FX consumer loan issues to be settled between banks, debtors

Budapest, January 18 (MTI) – Issues around consumer loans denominated in foreign currencies should be settled between lenders and borrowers, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told public Kossuth Radio on Sunday.

Orban said the government could act as a mediator in the process, but cannot pass judgement.

The government has managed to resolve issues around forex mortgages, but consumer loans are a different matter, Orban noted. He also said that in light of relevant court rulings, risks arising from exchange rate fluctuations should be taken by the borrower.

Concerning international appreciation of the government’s move to convert forex mortgages into forint-based ones before a sudden strengthening of the Swiss franc against the forint, Orban said the government should now “be as modest as a violet” and thanked voters for their confidence in his Fidesz party and the central bank’s readiness to assist in the manoeuvre.

On the subject of migrants, Orban suggested that the terms immigration or emigration were not applicable within the European Union, since “it is within an economic area we created through a joint effort that we migrate”. Orban called it “absurd” that political messages are created using the subject of Hungarians emigrating to the UK or Germany.

Concerning illegal migration, Orban insisted that a high number of those crossing Hungary’s borders without a valid permit were aware that if they said they are asylum-seekers they could no longer be treated as migrants in search of a better life.

“We are a Christian country and we have compassion in our heart. Those who are hunted should be assisted,” Orban said, but added that economic immigrants must be rejected and “we must make it clear to them that they will not find a living in Hungary”.