BUDAPEST (Reuters) – The Hungarian government will decide on Saturday whether or not to extend the moratorium on the repayment of loans to businesses and households which expires at the end of this year, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on public radio on Friday.

Orban said the government “will decide whether the moratorium should be extended and which parts of it”. He said there were several options.

The moratorium on loan repayments for all businesses and private borrowers, imposed in March, was one of the key government measures to help reduce the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

Hungary’s central bank called on Tuesday for a targeted extension of the moratorium. He said about a third of the 60,000 Hungarian companies that lifted the moratorium could face problems if it is lifted, while 10% of retail borrowers, or around 160,000 people, could face payment difficulties from next January without more help.

The government is in talks with local banks over a possible extension of the measure after second quarter data showed Hungary’s economy contracted by 13.6% per year, worse than expected and the most downturn. deep in Central Europe.

After a spike in new cases in recent weeks, Hungary reported 710 new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday, bringing the total number of infections to 15,170, with 663 deaths.

Orban said on Friday that the daily tally of new infections was likely to exceed 1,000.