Court rejects motion against rollback of home savings bank subsidies

Hungary's Constitutional Court on Wednesday rejected a motion by opposition MPs against amendments to legislation ending state subsidies for deposits in home savings banks. The opposition MPs argued that putting the amendments to a vote in an expedited procedure was unwarranted and gave those affected by the measure too little time to prepare for the consequences. They also argued that the change excluded a large part of the population from access to home subsidies. Parliament voted in October to phase out the state subsidy on deposits with home savings bank, one day after the bill was tabled. The government argued that the scheme, which matched 30 percent of deposits up to 72,000 forints (EUR 220) a year, was no longer functioning efficiently, and said the CSOK home purchase subsidy scheme for families was fulfilling its purpose.