How has been the impact of the global financial meltdown in Hungary?
In Hungary, the co-operative banks are strong enough to bear the impact of this financial maelstrom. All the commercial banks in Hungary are subsidiaries of the giant ERSTE Bank, an old commercial bank based in Austria. So the strength of the Hungarian commercial banks is reciprocal to bigger and more experienced West-European counterparts. Only the co-operative banks are in Hungarian hands, which employ refinance and liquidity systems, just like in commercial banks because they don’t tend to be financially dependent on third parties. For example, in case of commercial banks, you deposit 100 rupees and avail 140 rupees in loans, so there is 40 rupees deficit, which the bank fills with money borrowed from its mother bank. But in case of co-operative banks, you deposit 100 rupees but avail 50 rupees in loans, so there is this surplus money which the co-operative banks use in buying government securities defined in the Hungarian budget, thus helping in easing up liquidity problems. The cu
