Socialists: Central bank foundations being used to finance Fidesz’s re-election campaign

Budapest, May 17 (MTI) – Socialist Party leader József Tóbiás on Tuesday accused the governor of the central bank of using the bank’s foundations to surreptitiously finance the ruling Fidesz party’s re-election campaign.

The central bank law prescribes that the National Bank of Hungary should be politically independent, Tóbiás told a press conference. But press reports surfacing in recent days make it clear [central bank governor] György Matolcsy is using the billions of forints available to him through the central bank’s foundations to fund Fidesz’s re-election campaign in a shadowy way, he said.

Tóbiás said this “makes it clear” that the central bank governor is not actually independent but “a Fidesz politician”. “If he wants to be in politics, he should not be heading the central bank,” Tóbiás said. The Socialist Party leader said he wanted to “help” Matolcsy leave his post, which is why he would hand him a “letter of resignation” on Wednesday.

The party leader said it was now all the more important to set up a parliamentary committee to investigate central bank spending. The Socialist Party will finish collecting the signatures required to set up the committee on Tuesday, he said. Under house rules a fifth of lawmakers is required to establish an investigative committee.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters