Banking association head acknowledges success of central bank monetary policy

Budapest, February 9 (MTI) – The head of the Hungarian Banking Association acknowledged the success of the central bank’s monetary policy over the past three years but said lenders would welcome an end to new initiatives in an interview published by daily Magyar Idők on Tuesday.

Mihály Patai gave a “positive” assessment of the National Bank of Hungary’s monetary policy under governor György Matolcsy, noting that the base rate had been reduced without a notable weakening of the forint, cheap credit had been made available to companies under the Funding for Growth Scheme and the country’s external vulnerability had been reduced with the introduction of three-month deposits to soak up liquidity as well as incentives for banks to buy government securities.

“What would serve the interest of the economy and the banking sector would be for no new monetary policy initiatives to be announced,” he added.