Tag: Hungary

  • Hungarian Scholarship 2024-25 announced for Pakistani Students

    Hungarian Scholarship 2024-25 announced for Pakistani Students

    Higher Education Commission Pakistan (HEC) has announced the ‘Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship Program’ for academic year 2024-25 that aims at supporting outstanding students in collaboration with Hungary.

    The program involves Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD programs. Students who want to apply will have to sit for an exam that will be conducted in January and Feburary of the next year.

    The commission has confirmed that the program is supported by the Tempus Public Foundation Hungary to facilitate eligible individuals.

    How to Apply

    1. Applicants are MANDATORILY required to submit online applications at the Hungarian website and HEC website. Failure to submit online application forms on BOTH websites mentioned at Step (1) and Step (2) will not be considered for further processing.

    2. Hard copies of applications and other documents are not required at the initial stage. However, applicants are required to keep a record of all the submitted documents along with printed copies of BOTH application forms (submitted online at the HEC website & Hungarian website).

    3. At a later stage of the selection process, applicants will be required to submit hard copies (including online application forms submitted at the HEC website & Hungarian website) along with attested photocopies of all the original documents. Original medical certificate and police clearance certificate also need to be submitted at later stages of the application process.

    Step (1) Tempus Public Foundation (Hungarian side) Online Application:

    1. All applications shall be submitted through the online application system of Tempus Public Foundation Hungary. The application guideline can be found at https://stipendiumhungaricum.hu/
      After registration, applicants are able to access the application surface and upload the required documents. Please note that no applications will be accepted without the online submission and after the deadline. After applying online, get its printed copies for record.
    2. Apply online please visit: https://stipendiumhungaricum.hu/apply/
    3. Application Guide for the applicants can be found on our website: https://stipendiumhungaricum.hu/uploads/2020/03/Application_Guide_for_the_Stipendium_Hungaricum_Programme_2024_25.pdf
      Step (2) HEC Online Application:
    4. Apply online at: https://scholarship.hec.gov.pk/. After registering and filling out your profile, please select “Hungarian Scholarship Program”. After submission of the application, get its printed copy to be signed by the applicant. The HEC online application portal shall close on January 15, 2024 (1600 Hours Pakistan Time).
    5. Before applying, kindly update your HEC profile with the latest email/cell number & updated information. You are advised to complete and submit your application as soon as possible, as the online application system will be very busy in the days leading up to the application deadline. After successful submission of the application at the HEC portal, retain a printed copy application form signed by yourself.
    6. Submission of online applications at https://stipendiumhungaricum.hu/apply/ & https://Scholarship.hec.gov.pk portal is mandatory. In case of non-submission of forms on any of the above two portals, candidature will not be considered.
    7. All applicants are required to provide HAT or USAT test scores. Test categories are attached for information on applicants. Applicant must have obtained a minimum score of 50 out of 100 in HAT or USAT test. Those applicants who have taken the HAT or USAT test on or after January 15, 2022, may upload the test result on the HEC portal for consideration.
    8. Interested applicants who are yet to take the HAT or USAT test, may register for the same by visiting https://etc.hec.gov.pk/. Without providing a minimum HAT or USAT test score (50 out of 100), applications will not be considered for further processing.
  • Nomura warns seven countries including Pakistan are at high risk of currency crisis

    Nomura warns seven countries including Pakistan are at high risk of currency crisis

    The biggest brokerage and investment bank in Japan, Nomura Holdings, has issued a warning that seven nations, including Egypt, Romania, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Pakistan, and Hungary, are now at high risk of experiencing currency crisis.

    According to Reuters, the Japanese bank reported that 22 of the 32 nations covered by its internal “Damocles” warning system had witnessed an increase in risk since its last update in May, with the Czech Republic and Brazil experiencing the biggest rises.

    It indicates that since May, the total of the model’s scores for all 32 grew significantly from 1,744 to 2,234 points.

    “This is the highest total score since July 1999 and not too far from the peak of 2,692 during the height of the Asian crisis,” Nomura economists said, calling it “an ominous warning sign of the growing broad-based risk in EM currencies”.

    The model computes an overall score based on eight important variables, including a nation’s foreign currency reserves, exchange rate, financial soundness, and interest rates.

    Nomura calculates that a score above 100 implies a 64 per cent likelihood of a currency crisis in the next 12 months based on data from 61 prior EM currency crises that have occurred since 1996.

    Egypt currently has the lowest score at 165 after devaluing its currency significantly twice already this year and applying for an IMF programme.

    Romania, which has been using interventions to support its currency, is listed next on page 145. Both Turkey and Sri Lanka, which frequently has currency crises due to default, have ratings of 138, while the Czech Republic, Pakistan, and Hungary receive scores of 126, 120, and 100, respectively.

    The Damocles model was also applied by Nomura to the G7 group of advanced countries. The results showed that all but Japan now had Damocles scores over the 100-point barrier, with the United States and Britain leading the way.

    EM economies continue to be increasingly fragile. Due to their incomplete recovery from the COVID-19 epidemic, the majority of countries are currently dealing with high inflation, a finite amount of fiscal room, negative real interest rates, a weakened balance of payments, and reduced FX reserve cover.

    “It is somewhat surprising that there have not been more full-blown EM currency crises this year,” Nomura added.

    “Then again, EM challenges are far from over… The late Professor Rudiger Dornbusch once said, A crisis takes a much longer time coming than you think, and then it happens much faster than you would have thought”.