Hungarian RMB market growing successfully: Central bank official

BUDAPEST - The Hungarian renminbi (RMB) market has grown successfully, and Chinese yuan-based loans, accounts and deposits are available, Hungarian National Bank (MNB)'s executive director Daniel Palotai said Wednesday at the Budapest RMB Initiative conference.

"This year, we expect growth in the use of renminbi in commerce, in clearing transactions, and the renminbi quota of the MNB is also increasing, strengthening the RMB-HUF (Hungarian forint) market as well," said Palotai, who is also the chief economist at the central bank.

"It is not yet sure if the Panda bond (a bond issued in Chinese yuan for the internal Chinese market) will be available in Hungary," he said. "It is also to be seen how the Budapest Stock Exchange wants to develop the renminbi market," he said.

The purpose of the Budapest RMB Initiative is to expand the investment spectrum and financing sources of Hungary and to foster Chinese-Hungarian economic partnership. MNB's goals for the initiative are to create money, foreign exchange, and capital market infrastructures; develop the settlement system; and start negotiations about Chinese capital market licences with the major stakeholders of renminbi settlements.

Chinese-Hungarian commercial relations are continuously developing and the relations between the central banks of the two countries are excellent, Palotai said.

"Last year, Chinese exports towards Hungary reached 4.4 billion euros ($4.7 billion), as the Chinese imports from Hungary reached two billion euros," Palotai said. "In 2015, the Bank of China opened a yuan clearing center in Budapest," he added.

Chen Xin, director of the economic division of the Institute of European Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, spoke about the importance of the internalization of renminbi.

After a short briefing on the Chinese economy, he said that China "was still in a growing phase, even though its speed has slowed somewhat."