Answering a question as to whether the central bank is expected to change its benchmark rate, he said that while some European countries are trying to offset the threat of deflation with quantitative easing, Hungary still had its 2.1% base rate.

“In Hungary, the base rate has still not reached a level close to zero, and perhaps it will not reach that level in the near future so we will have a possibility to fine-tune the impact of the monetary policy a little via the base rate,” he said.

“At the moment, loosening may be needed in the near future”, Palotai added.