Opposition lashes out against cbank over new villa purchase
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Budapest (MTI) – Opposition parties on Tuesday criticised the central bank’s real estate purchases after press reports revealed new details of a luxury villa bought in February.
The daily Magyar Nemzet reported on Tuesday that the Pallas Athene foundation of the National Bank of Hungary (NBH) had purchased a 2,165 square metre property on a hill in Budapest’s leafy 12th district for 1.3 billion forints (EUR 4.17m) from a company registered on the Virgin islands. The central bank declined the paper’s request for comment, saying that its foundations operate independently.
Pallas Athene said the building will house a research and training centre and that the purchase price was below the market price according to an independent appraisal. The foundation also bought a 795 million forint villa in the Buda Castle, where it plans to set up its headquarters, it said in a statement sent to the paper.
Istvan Tukacs, a lawmaker for the Socialist opposition, said central bank governor Gyorgy Matolcsy should immediately resign to put a stop to “further thriftless spending”.