The MNB is projecting 2.8% inflation for this year, unchanged from the September edition of its Inflation Report, according to a summary by state news agency MTI.
The central bank is sticking to its forecast for next yearʼs economic growth, projecting a rate of 3.5%, but has lowered its expected inflation rate by 0.2 of a percentage point to 2.9%.
For 2020, the central bank expects 3% inflation and 3% GDP growth, both in line with its previous forecast.
In a first set of projections, the MNB also said that inflation and GDP could both grow by 3% in 2021.
Revisions of older data meanwhile raise the GDP growth figure for 2017 by 0.1 of a percentage point to 4.1%.
A fan chart published on Tuesday indicates that the central bank expects CPI to be above the 3% mid-term target in early 2019, but to fall below the target after Q1 as inflation trends continue to be volatile. CPI is again seen nearing the 3% target by early 2020. The MNB puts the inflation target in a +/-1% tolerance band.
The official government forecasts for GDP growth are 4.3% for 2018 and 4.1% for 2019, MTI noted.



