“I am a great supporter of conservative and responsible central banking and monetary policy.”
“Stability, predictability and confidence: these are the best tools available to stimulate growth.”
“We are not dealing with this issue at all right now.”
“Quantitative easing is unimaginable.”
“Hungary is not giving up its goal of belonging to the core even if this can only be attained in the medium or the long term.”
“Hungary’s potential growth capacity has fallen behind that of other CEE countries for ten years in a row. For this reason, the economy is expected to grow by something between zero and two percent during the years to come.”
“We think the external members’ dovish position will become increasingly difficult to sustain”
“I think Raiffeisen will be in Hungary when there is no longer an Orbán government.”
“We are far from the ideal state when we can dispose of such an external support.”
“It is not a question of if, but it’s a question of when.”
“Bankers must prepare for a new socio-political embeddedness. The political elite have regained control over the financial elite.”
“Kádár’s bureaucracy used to be more efficient than Orbán’s.”
“Sooner or later that fridge will break down, sooner or later that TV may have to be replaced.”
“Economic growth is growth even when it happens to be negative [growth].”
“I’ve learned in the past year what it means here in Hungary to “consult” with someone. It’s when one is told about somebody’s plans and about facts which give [you] a very limited degree of latitude in a very short space of time.”
“You can’t just send to hell people who have the power to crush a whole country’s economy. You’ve got to accept the fact that there’s such a thing as institutional and corporate ego.”
“When the world and Europe are uncertain and unpredictable, it is especially important [for the government] to provide predictability, transparency and trust.”
“If the current economic policies continue unabated, I don’t see any chance of an agreement [with the IMF]. But if there was an fundamental shift in economic policy, [Hungary] wouldn’t need the international financial institutions.”
“Despite the imminent start of talks, the government remains comfortable pushing an outlandish and unconventional policy agenda, contradicting both the substance and the spirit of the negotiations they are about to enter into.”
“The Prime Minister’s hint that [...] National Economy Minister György Matolcsy still has a good few plans stashed away in his desk is worrying rather than soothing news to the markets.”
“This whole farmland competition is a joke. People with no history of farming have won land in this neighborhood… it’s not worth living here anymore.”
“There will be no IMF agreement this year, except in case of a stress situation on the money market, which would send current interests and rates sharply up, making the loan contract a matter of urgency for the government.”
“Instead of credit-driven consumption, we are heading toward savings-based investments, meanwhile a credit bubble worth thousands of billions of forints is bursting, which is the reason why there has been no turnaround in investments.”
“We need to work hard to improve competitiveness, which isn’t going to be easy. We’re in for a period fraught with agony.”
It’s outrageous that multinational companies do not add their costs and margins to the price of imported milk whereas they do [add them to the price] of Hungarian [milk]. The price difference is entirely arbitrary and aims to improve their bargaining power against local producers.
“We would be very happy to convert as much of Hungary’s debt into forints as possible.”
“It’s time to realize that the markets are not made up of a bunch of idiots, but rationally thinking people.”
“Isn’t it a coincidence that you practically speak up for the interests of foreign companies all the time?”
“The financial transaction tax is a tactical nuclear weapon in the 21st century that will allow us to take on Asian countries on the labor market.”
