Global investment bank Nomura International has expressed concern over the attacks on National Bank (MNB) governor András Simor that two Fidesz politicians have made this week.
Fidesz chairman Viktor Orbán said on Monday that “we would like to be proud of the fact that the MNB that cannot be the home of offshore knights”, referring to reports that Simor neglected to declare his Cyprus-registered company in his declaration of assets.
The following morning deputy Fidesz chairman Zoltán Pokorni told a radio show that Simor should resign. Simor’s six-year term is scheduled to end in 2013.
Nomura wrote that this is more and more worrying to investors, who recognise Simor’s role in restoring international confidence in Hungary, Bloomberg reported. Fidesz is not doing itself any favours this way, Nomura added.
Fidesz is only running the risk of swiftly losing the confidence built up by Simor and outgoing prime minister Gordon Bajnai, said Nomura’s London-based emerging market analyst Peter Montalto. This is a “toxic mix”, both to the forint exchange rate and to the medium- and long-term interest rate outlooks, he added.
Markets essentially consider Simor’s work to have been positive, and to attack it is foolish, Takarékbank analyst Csaba Sörös said.