The Parliament’s Economic and IT Committee on Monday morning approved committee President Antal Rogán’s nomination of Bártfai-Mager Mr Gerhardt to serve as two of the four external members of the National Bank of Hungary’s Monetary Council. Rogán said on Monday morning that the committee will discuss the nomination of candidates for the Monetary Council’s other two external positions later this month, noting that the Monetary Council would have a quorum with two external members in addition to its three internal members.
Gergely Suppan of Takarékbank said that the nomination of Bártfai-Mager and Gerhardt to the Monetary Council is likely to ease concerns on the market that the council would come under the government’s direct political influence. Suppan noted that the announcement of the nominations did not provide the forint with a boost, thus demonstrating that currency traders are focused primarily on global events rather than domestic news.
Zoltán Árokszállási of Erste Bank Hungary remarked that both Bártfai-Mager and Gerhardt previously worked a the National Bank of Hungary during the six-year MNB governorship of current bank supervisory board chairman Zsigmond Járai, who served as finance minister in Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s first government for more than two years. Árokszállási commented that the monetary concepts of Bártfai-Mager and Gerhardt are as yet unknown, adding that the nominees, if appointed, are unlikely to exercise a decisive impact on the MNB’s rate-setting policies as inflationary developments leave very limited room for interest rate reduction at present. The analyst noted that the government could still nominate political appointees to the Monetary Council’s two remaining unfilled external positions.
An amendment to the central bank law passed on February 21 authorizes parliament to elect the four external members of the Monetary Council at the proposal of the Economic and IT Committee. Prior to the amendment, the president appointed the four external members of the MNB’s Monetary Council – two at the recommendation of the prime minister and two at the recommendation of the chairman of the MNB. The mandates are for a period of six years.
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