András Simor: Fear motivates for saving money for the long term

Trade magazin’s Business Podcast, Future Talks with Szilvia Krizsó continues

Szilvia Krizsó: – The virtual world is influencing investment decisions and many more other fields. It is inevitable that soon the bank sector won’t be able to operate the same way as it does today.

András Simor: – When people are asked what they expect from a bank, they name two fundamental things: managing those affairs where they don’t need advice in a fast, cheap and safe way, and in more complicated matters having someone to turn to for advice.

Future Talks with Szilvia Krizsó – every Monday at 7 p.m. Watch and listen to the podcast with András Simor any time.

K.Sz.: – In the past all of your positions required being up-to-date about everything all the time. How do you keep up with the latest events now?

S.A.: – My information gathering habits have changed very much: I don’t focus on what I have to but on what I am interested in. I am very much interested in what the world of labour will be like in 5, 10 or 20 years’ time. What kind of skills and knowledge will be necessary to get by?

K.Sz.: – Analysts predict that inflation will surge now that governments are pumping money into the economy. If this happens, will it be possible to return to the earlier model?

S.A.: – Almost every expert agrees that an inflation growth is likely in the next period, the debate is about whether it will be a transitional, short-term or long-term increase? On the supply side the level of globalisation is decreasing and because of the crisis companies want safety; however, on the demand side savings increased very much due to the crisis. Now with the reopening people will spend some of these savings, which will speed up inflation in the short term. Despite the fact that cheap loans were available to consumers, people decided against taking out these.

K.Sz.: – What can be the psychological background of this?

S.A.: – My view is that the authorities are sitting on their horse backwards. People are saving money because they don’t feel safe. The economic recession in 2008-2009, the rapid technological development of recent years and now the pandemic – all of these generate a feeling of uncertainty.

K.Sz.: – When you were appointed governor of the central bank one of your missions was to make Hungary adopt the euro. This hasn’t happened yet. Would the country be in a better position if it was already a member of the Euro-area?

S.A.: – We would be better off adopting the euro and Hungary is quite close to being ready for this. In 5-10 years’ time we could do it without any problem.

K.Sz.: – How important is the introduction of the euro in the light of cryptocurrencies’ spreading?

S.A.: – I don’t like calling them currencies, let’s say instead that they are gambling tokens, because they don’t have a value just a price – as long as somebody is willing to pay more for them. My opinion is that there isn’t any rationalistic basis for paying more and more for these. At the same money is starting to lose its value.

K.Sz.: – Technological development can’t be stopped…

S.A.: – It will be very interesting when central banks issue their own digital currencies. If they launch their own cryptocurrencies, then every citizen and business in Hungary can have an account at the central bank, from where payment is much simpler and safer than it is now with a cryptocurrency.

K.Sz.: – Would you like to be the governor of the central bank now?

S.A.: – You can’t step into the same river twice. //

Future Talks with Szilvia Krizsó

Have you ever thought about using a time machine to see the future? If your answer to this question is yes, then listen to Future Talks, Trade Magazin’s Business Podcast. Pulitzer Memorial Award winner journalist Szilvia Krizsó brings the future closer, together with famous and successful businessmen, scientists and experts.

The podcast series starts on 19 April 2021 and there will be a new episode every Monday at 17.00.You can find the Future Talks podcast at Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, on Trade magazin’s Facebook page, at trademagazin.hu and futuretalks.hu. //