More energy saving subsidies to old homes in 2007

"The government will give a Ft 3 billion subsidy for energy-saving improvements to older family homes next year, up from Ft 1 billion this year," government spokeswoman Emese Danks announced.

"The new subsidy will cover only 15% of programme costs, less than the 33% available this year, though an additional Ft 20 billion in subsidised loans will also be available," Economy Ministry undersecretary Béla Felsmann said.

The new energy saving subsidy will be available from March, as it was this year when 9,000 applications were filed in ten days entirely swallowing up the earmarked sum. In Hungary heating costs per cubic metre are around three times more than in West Europe, Népszabadság notes.

The government realised Ft 2 billion on the sale of its carbon-dioxide emission quotas, the revenues of which will be given to the Economy Ministry and the Environment Ministry: the former will boost the originally Ft 2 billion subsidy fund to Ft 3 billion next year and support home energy saving projects, while the latter will spend it on subsidising the reduction of green-house gas emissions and on research.

The above story is just one of more than two dozen published today by Hungary Around the Clock, the most comprehensive source of daily English-language news about Hungary. For a free trial of HATC, click here. Hungarian news sources include Népszabadság; Magyar Hírlap; Világgazdaság; Napi Gazdaság; Magyar Nemzet; Népszava; Kossuth Rádió news and Hungarian television's nightly news broadcast.

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