'Hungary receives billion loan from China in secret'

(ANSA) - BUDAPEST, 26 LUG - The Hungarian government has received a €1 billion loan from Chinese commercial banks in a deal to replace resources that are lacking due to the freezing of European funds for rule of law violations and widespread corruption. The deal was concluded last spring, kept secret, and was initially disclosed by the online newspaper portfolio. hu, which cites data on the website of the Public Debt Management Center. The terms are unknown; the term is three years, shorter than the five- and 10-year bonds that finance Hungary's state debt. Hungary, under Viktor Orban's leadership, has grown closer to China, which has become the largest foreign investor, with battery and electric vehicle manufacturing plants. China also builds railways in the country, and recently Chinese President Xi was received with great honor by Orban. The budget deficit this year has increased to 4.5 percent of GDP, so the European Commission has initiated an excessive deficit procedure against Hungary, along with six other member countries. State indebtedness has reached 76 percent of GDP, highest in the region, according to Nepszava newspaper. "The very expensive Chinese loan only adds to the burden of the budget and overall debt," the newspaper writes. (ANSA).