OTP repays 700 million euro loan to Hungary

BUDAPEST, March 22 (Reuters) - Hungarian OTP Bank OTPB.BU said on Monday it paid back 700 million euros ($946 million) to Hungary on March 19, the remaining part of a 1.4 billion loan signed a year ago.

The bank prepaid the first half in November even though the original terms of the agreement earmarked repayment from February 2011 in eight tranches.

OTP said it would use its own liquidity reserves rather than the state loan to provide loans to the Hungarian corporate sector, and would further increase its exposure to the sector. (Reporting by Sandor Peto; Editing by Dan Lalor) ($1 = 0.7401 euro)