All 27 analysts polled by Reuters on April 11-13 said rate-setters would keep the rate on hold for the third month in a row at the meeting.
At the previous meeting, in March, the Monetary Council voted unanimously to keep rates on hold because further rate rises were “not justified” considering the baseline projection in the MNB’s fresh inflation report, the condensed minutes of the meeting showed.
“A reduction in the base rate might be justified if the recovery in lending turned out to be slower than expected and domestic demand to be weaker than projected,” the minutes said. “By contrast, tighter monetary conditions might be needed if the pass-through of shocks into consumer prices turned out to be faster,” the minutes added.
Hungary’s CPI accelerated to 4.5% year-on-year in March from 4.1% in February, lifted by steep increases of food, energy and fuel prices. The rise was well over analysts’ consensus of 4.2%.
The analysts polled by Reuters put the base rate at the end of 2012 at 5.75%, up from the 5.50% forecast in the previous month’s poll.
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