At its meeting on 24 September, the Monetary Council discussed the latest economic and financial developments and decided to leave the Bank's major policy rate unchanged.

In the Council's judgement, the uncertain international economic conditions that have developed in the aftermath of the terror attacks against the United States justify a widening of the gap between forint and euro interest rates. Consequently, the National Bank will not follow the example of the European Central Bank and other central banks in reducing interest rates.