Weekly purchase volume has averaged HUF 55 bln for eight weeks, falling from around HUF 60 bln in the period since early February.

The latest weekly QE data show the central bank bought HUF 31 bln of government securities at auction and HUF 22 bln outside of auction. The bonds included HUF 25 bln of government securities with terms under 10 years.

The total purchases made in the framework of the QE program reached HUF 2.9 trillion on August 15, including almost HUF 2.825 tln of government securities and HUF 75.3 bln of bonds from other issuers with government guarantees, such as the Hungarian Development Bank (MFB) and Magyar Eximbank.

The central bank's Monetary Council performed a revision on the program as assets approached the HUF 2 tln mark at a monthly policy meeting in April, but set no limit for total stock. The next revision will be performed when stocks reach HUF 3 tln, the Council said. In the meantime, the policymakers said the MNB would continue to use the QE program "by maintaining a lasting presence in the market, taking a flexible approach to changing the structure of weekly securities purchases, to the extent and for the time necessary".

MNB launched the QE program in the spring of 2020 "to prevent damage…to monetary policy transmission and manage economic and financial risks arising from the coronavirus pandemic". The program has since been expanded to include securities with maturities under ten years, while a limit on the volume of securities series the MNB may purchase has been scrapped.