New records and improved stability – MNB Governor Mihály Varga holds start-of-the-year press conference at Budapest Stock Exchange

Budapest, 12 January 2026 – “The performance of the Hungarian stock market set a number of new records in 2025, which says a great deal about the state of the Hungarian economy,” according to MNB Governor Mihály Varga, speaking at the start-of-the-year press conference held at the Budapest Stock Exchange. He added that last year was also a period of rebuilding and rationalising under the MNB’s new leadership and that the primary goal this year was to continue strengthening stability.

MNB Governor Varga highlighted that, despite the many challenges, the sustainable development of the Hungarian economy was supported by achieving and maintaining price stability, the stabilisation of the forint exchange rate, the high level of reserves and Hungary’s well-capitalised banking system. In 2025, the MNB had launched the initiatives which set the foundations for this year’s stability-oriented operations. Governor Varga noted that exchange rate volatility had developed more favourably than in the last five years and that the MNB’s reserves had reached an unprecedented level of over EUR 50 billion. The strong position of banks had enabled the conclusion of agreements which paved the way for lower fees, more plannable investments, more transparent loans, better provision of information and stronger fraud prevention. Governor Varga also called attention to the fact that the performance of the Hungarian Stock Exchange had reached record-setting levels. With an index level of around 110,000, the BUX reflected the increasingly robust conditions throughout the Hungarian economy. He also pointed out that stabilisation of the forint exchange rate – which had strengthened consistently and significantly throughout the previous year – represented a solid pillar of support as well. While the EUR/HUF exchange rate was fluctuating at a level of around 410 one year ago, it was now ranging at EUR/HUF 385. “It can be said, therefore, that saving in HUF paid off,” according to Varga. He added that in today’s risk-fraught world, it was very valuable for a country to be able to build on domestic resources. “A more active presence on the stock exchange improves the resource availability of Hungarian companies and may enhance returns on household savings at the same time,” said Governor Varga.

Magyar Nemzeti Bank