Budapest, 22 April 2025 –The MNB’s new management was committed to achieving and maintaining price stability while improving the efficiency and practical usefulness of the central bank’s work, Mihály Varga said at a meeting of the Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Large Enterprise Club. The central bank governor stated that in the future the Magyar Nemzeti Bank would focus on performing its basic statutory tasks and would cooperate with economic and financial market participants, in order to support sustainable economic growth.
Governor Varga pointed out that the protracted Russian-Ukrainian war, the tariff war and stagnation in the German economy were affecting the outlook for the Hungarian economy, while global economic and financial market uncertainty was growing again, and risks of recession and inflation had reappeared. As he noted, in its March forecast, the central bank projected inflation of between 4.5 and 5.1 per cent and GDP growth of 1.9 to 2.9 per cent for this year, but the global tariff war could affect this trajectory. The Governor emphasised that despite the circumstances there were grounds for optimism, as the Hungarian economy had strong foundations, supported by consistently high employment at around 4.7 million and renewed growth in domestic consumption. He emphasised that the central bank underpinned the financial foundations in the economy on which all other economic activity was based. The MNB’s new management was focusing on strengthening the central role of its core tasks, increasing transparency and efficiency, and streamlining other activities. Varga highlighted that two cooperation initiatives had been launched recently which would increase the effectiveness of the central bank’s activities. Within the framework of a six-point agreement concluded with the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the two institutions would support the sustainable development of the Hungarian economy and the practical application of theoretical knowledge through joint analysis of economic processes. Thanks to an agreement with the banking sector, banking costs would become simpler, more transparent and cheaper. The five-point agreement strengthened the provision of information to bank customers and reduced fees for certain household financial services, thus exercising an indirect disinflationary effect.