Hungary has promised to cut a controversial bank levy by half from 2014, a German official said on Thursday.

The finance minister of the German regional state of Bavaria, Markus Söder, said on Thursday his Hungarian counterpart had committed to the tax reduction during a meeting in Vienna, which was also attended by the Austrian finance minister, Reuters reported.

Hungary on Wednesday opted to increase taxes to avert European Union sanctions over its budget deficit, reopening policy differences with its international lenders and dimming prospects for a long-delayed financing deal.

The government’s decision to maintain one of its flagship measures, Europe’s highest bank tax, drew protests from bankers and sent shares in central Europe’s biggest independent lender OTP sharply lower on Wednesday.

Austrian and Bavarian lenders are among the biggest foreign financial institutions active in Hungary.

2012.10.18 14:52
Rogán: unchanged bank tax will not really hurt the Hungarian economy

2012.10.18 13:43
Hungary Orbán says double bank tax will not hurt economy, cites deleveraging

Hungary’s National Economy Ministry has just said in an email that Economy Minister György Matolcsy has met in Vienna his Austrian counterpart Maria Fekter and Markus Söder.

The subject of their discussion was to draw the ties of the three countries closer and determine the directions of their future co-operation.

The statement does not say what Hungary has promised to Austria and Germany with respect to the bank tax.