Life business reverses growth trend

Despite the decline in the market’s life income in 2008, the number of life policies in force rose by 1.6% to over 3 million

Hungary’s financial sector remained stable despite the country’s economic climate in 2008 with a rise in the central bank’s base rate from 6% to 10%, soaring balance of payments deficit and a 53% drop in the Budapest Stock Exchange (BUX) index. There were very few company failures during the year, and the only departure from the insurance scene was the bankruptcy of the small MAV Hungarian Railroad mutual which fell victim to under-pricing its motor business.