The National Stock Exchange Development Fund, announced today by the government, will provide effective support to the Budapest Stock Exchange’s (BSE) strategy adopted at the beginning of this year. This strategy aims to implement a comprehensive programme to develop the capital market and the stock exchange in order to ensure that the stock exchange contributes to the growth and competitiveness of the Hungarian economy on both the medium and long term. The BSE intends to implement this strategy in collaboration with the government. A first milestone in this respect was the enactment of various legislative amendments over the summer which support the development of the Hungarian capital market. With its capital amounting to HUF 20 billion, the newly created National Stock Exchange Development Fund has the potential to provide effective means for supplying Hungary’s small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with capital. Over the last few decades, it has been seen that presence on the stock market improves the productivity and competitiveness of companies, contributing in turn to the country’s general economic growth.

A central objective of the BSE is to encourage and support both SMEs and larger companies in establishing a presence on the stock exchange. In order to identify, select and prepare companies that are ready to be listed on the exchange, the BSE has expanded its range of training and consultancy services. The development of Hungary’s capital market is particularly timely at this moment, as EU funding is expected to drop significantly as of 2020, and that the central bank will phase out its programmes supporting companies in obtaining credit. Accordingly, companies must prepare for the time when they will no longer base their growth on subsidised loans or EU grants, but on market resources. The development of the stock exchange plays an essential role in this.