Hungary’s interest rate cuts: that’s it, for now
The National Bank of Hungary (MNB) surprised the markets on Tuesday by lopping 20 basis points off its policy interest rate to leave it at 2.1 per cent a year, a new record low. But Gyorgy Matolcsy,...
View ArticleHungary nationalises German-owned MKB bank
Hungary’s government said on Thursday it had agreed a deal to buy MKB, one of the country’s largest commercial banks with more than 80 branches, from BayernLB, its German owner. The state will pay €55m...
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Zagreb “enraged” by Hungary’s Mol
A long-running dispute between Croatia and Mol, the Hungarian oil and gas company, over control of Ina, Mol’s Croatian counterpart, has flared up again. Zagreb is seething over a statement issued by...
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Company resort makes its comeback at Hungary’s central bank
Under communism, it was the norm for state companies and institutions in central Europe to own holiday homes: come summer, reluctant and poorly paid comrade workers could enjoy the proletarian splash...
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Hungary’s growth: positive surprise
Hungary’s economy expanded by 3.9 per cent in the second quarter of 2014 compared with the same quarter last year, helped by strong performances in the manufacturing and construction sectors, according...
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Budapest airport throngs with festival campers
Airline passengers to Hungary, be warned: Budapest’s Liszt Ferenc International airport is having its Woodstock Week, with anything from 200 to 250 youths – with associated rucksacks, tents, sleeping...
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Guest post: Hungary’s low lending rates are not a supply side problem
By Timothy Ash of Standard Bank A new initiative by the government of Viktor Orban in Hungary appears to be “right-sizing” the country’s banking sector, boosting its efficiency and cost effectiveness...
View ArticleForint’s slide confounds Hungary’s positive economic data
It’s early days in 2015 but already there is positive news on Hungary, at least according to official government sources. Fresh jobs data reveal “the number of people in employment up by some 200,000...
View ArticleHungary and Poland: where the Swiss franc bites
This is what happened to the Hungarian forint and the Polish zloty, measured against the euro, after the Swiss central bank abandoned its currency peg on Thursday. No surprise there, you may think:...
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Hungary’s great Swiss franc escape
Those who relish irony will have found much to savour in the Swiss central bank’s actions on Thursday when, as Mohamed El-Erian comments, we were reminded of the dangers of substituting financial...
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Mercedes builds on “trust” in Hungary
Mercedes-Benz launched production of its new compact CLA Shooting Brake at Kecskemét, central Hungary, on Tuesday, with Viktor Orbán, the prime minister, driving the first car off the assembly line...
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bb review: Hungarian Politics in 2014
Hungarian politics, like the Hungarian language, tends to be a mystery to outsiders at the best of times. The arrival of the second Fidesz government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban in 2010 added more...
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Hungary’s hauliers take the heat of quick decision making
Before Hungary’s general election last April, Viktor Orban, the prime minister, began to laud the advantages of a two-thirds “super majority” in parliament. It gave Hungary a big advantage over its...
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Guest post: Hungary tries to balance between Russia and EU
By Balázs Orbán, Századvég Foundation Hungary’s foreign policy machine is up, running and making waves: in a matter of weeks, it has helped engineer three important meetings. First, Viktor Orban, the...
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Guest post: Putin’s visit to Hungary raised more questions than it provided...
By Krisztián Szabados and Péter Krekó of the Political Capital Institute Last week’s guest post by Balázs Orbán on Hungary’s foreign policy and the visit of Vladmir Putin adds little to the official...
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Guest post: Hungary is ready for an upgrade
By Zsolt Kuti and Imre Ligeti of the National Bank of Hungary The upgrades in Hungary’s credit outlook last year, first by Standard & Poor’s and then by Moody’s, represent a turnaround in the...
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Europe: do not be taken in by Viktor Orban
“Europe is being overrun by millions of people. We are facing a real danger. Those who are besieged cannot take in anyone. Hungary and Europe as a whole are in danger!” This is how Viktor Orban,...
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The destruction of Hungary’s institutions and the reversal of transition
The Hungarian central bank recently announced that it had purchased the Budapest Stock Exchange from its previous owner, the Vienna Stock Exchange. This peculiar transaction was not widely reported in...
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Europe’s obsession with the past risks blinding it to the dangers of the present
The furore over allegations that Lech Walesa collaborated with Poland’s communist secret police in the 1970s shows that the past is ever present in the countries that once made up the Soviet bloc....
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Hungary’s referendum: an expensive farce
Viktor Orbán’s illiberal administration is preparing for a national referendum next Sunday, October 2. Supposedly, it’s all about the migration crisis: the Hungarian people will be asked, in a...
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