András Simor: ‘The authorities are sitting on their horse backwards’

By: Gyarmati Orsolya Date: 2021. 05. 10. 19:00

How is the virtual world transforming the bank sector? Money or cryptocurrency? These are just two of the topics that economist András Simor, a member of Erste Group Bank AG’s supervisory board and former governor of the Central Bank of Hungary (MNB) talked about with host Szilvia Krizsó in our podcast series, Future Talks.

In connection with the expected inflation growth, he explained that the debate today is about whether the growth will be short-term or long-term. 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 a little.

Despite the fact that cheap loans were available to consumers, people decided against taking out these. Mr Simor opines that by offering these cheap loans the authorities are sitting on their horse backwards. People are saving money because they don’t feel safe. He also talked about how much the world of employment is transforming and what skills are necessary to get by in these new conditions.