Ákos Péter Bod: There has been no state bankruptcy in Hungary for a hundred years, it is calm
Last week, the first item on the agenda of the Economic Committee meeting was the business report and report of the Hungarian National Bank for the year 2021. György Matolcsy among other things, he talked about that “we have to face the fact that financial and macroeconomics are in the second-worst place in the European Union (…) Next year it will be the worst, because inflation between 15-18 percent will be free in the European Union.” The price caps and all kinds of seemingly good ideas, in socialism it turns out that they don’t work, the system has collapsed”, he explained. Although the central bank governor’s critical words sent the forint down, Finance Minister Mihály Varga also admitted that he was right, and the opposition he apostrophized Matolcsy’s speech as a devastating criticism of the system.
The choice of location and time is strange, but what was said is correct – this is how Ákos Péter Bod, who was the president of the Hungarian National Bank until 1994, commented on the speech on his social media page. According to the economist, the central bank president’s economic situation largely corresponds to the assessment of the analyst community, and Matolcsy is also right that in such an inflationary environment, those who keep their savings in cash can get up to 20 percent annually. “So the good advice of the bank president is correct, not to sit on the sewn-in cushions. It’s really better if they put it in a bank, in government securities – although the value of their money may still lose, but not that much.” The MTA doctor sees the problem in the fact that the governor of the central bank structured his speech to the committee poorly, “it was quite unfortunate because the encouragement was preceded by the mention of the fact that the Hungarian state is financially vulnerable, the government’s policy is flawed, etc.”
According to Ákos Péter Bod, the consequences are already visible, public figures have reported each other for spreading scaremongering, and he “is being asked about the chances of state bankruptcy by journalists, passers-by, and even professionals.”
We haven’t had a state bankruptcy in the last hundred years, so don’t worry. There is a protective umbrella over the state: the International Monetary Fund, and there is the EU. As long as our country is a member of the EU, it is under strong protection
– stated the specialist.