Hungary: Central bank raises interest rates by 50 bp to 3.4%

The Hungarian central bank raised interest rates by 50 basis points to 3.4%, as expected, as consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in 15 years in January, with rising Ukraine-Russia tensions fueling market uncertainty. .

In a poll released this week, 11 out of 15 analysts expected the key interest rate to rise by 50 basis points to 3.4%, while three analysts forecast an increase of 60 basis points and one analyst expected an increase of 70 basis points to 3.6 %.

Average estimates expect the key interest rate to rise to 5.28% by the end of 2022 as the bank seeks to curb inflation at a time when businesses are re-pricing goods and services to offset rising costs for materials and wages. .

“We observed a sharp acceleration of the underlying inflation throughout the region in January,” Commerzbank said in a note.

“It is now up to the central banks to redefine their own reaction function and prove that they can act more aggressively when the secondary effects become stronger.”

The deputy governor of the central bank stressed last week that the risks to inflation had increased.

He stressed that the bank will raise interest rates until it sees that “it has won the battle of inflation.”

Inflation in January stood at 7.9%, the highest level since August 2007.

Source: Capital

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