Balog was emphatic in stating that the rate-setters must consider the tapering of the US Federal Reserve’s asset purchase program and the situation in Ukraine, as well as fundamentals affecting inflation and questions of financial stability.
MNB rate-setters stunned markets last month, cutting the base rate to yet another record low by 15 bp – well more than expected by an overwhelming majority of analysts who’d weighed in with speculation – to 2.70%. The new rate has been blamed for a subsequent drop in the forint on international markets, though the National Economy Ministry insists that the currency’s issues are “due to external factors and not justified by fundamentals.”
Balog stated that the latest inflation data, i.e. reportage of 0% consumer price inflation for January 2014, had also surprised the MNB.
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