László Perlusz: The base interest rate should be brought below 5 percent

– The Magyar Nemzeti Bank cut the central bank base rate by 100 basis points to 9 percent, breaking with the previous pace. Recently, together with others, VOSZ urged the central bank to speed up the pace of interest rate cuts. With this, the VOSZ joined the line in which we find László Parragh and the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. How does VOSZ accept the recent MNB announcement?

– We welcome moderate acceleration. If we manage to maintain the pace, which depends not only on the MNB, but also on the state of the economy, we will be able to reach an interest rate that will help start lending. It is very important that this starts, because we know that even when interest rates were very high in Hungary, programs such as the Széchenyi Card Program or the Gábor Baross Reindustrialization Program, as well as other attempts after the Covid crisis, were able to keep the SMEs and several large enterprises, for example in the manufacturing industry. Overall, the Hungarian economy can only grow if access to funds is adequate, since it is not enough to keep lending to certain groups of entrepreneurs alive, but the economy in general must be stimulated. The interest rate was so high because of last year’s terribly high inflation. A year ago, inflation was still 25 percent, now it is falling, currently 3.8 percent. The change was not followed by a proportional decrease in the base interest rate, so the VOSZ recommended the central bank to examine the situation and, if possible, accelerate the reduction of the interest level.