Lawmakers vote on central bank rate-setter

Budapest, July 6 (MTI) – Parliament on Monday voted to appoint Gusztav Bager a member of the rate-setting Monetary Council of the National Bank of Hungary (NBH).

Lawmakers made the appointment with a vote of 125 ayes, 60 nays and five abstentions.

The 76-year-old economist worked for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in the 70s and the economics department of Hungary’s National Planning Office in the 80s. He worked for the Finance Ministry in the 90s and the State Audit Office (ASZ) at the start of the millennium. He has sat on the boards of K and H Bank and Budapest Bank, and is a member of the Hungarian Writers Union. He is a professor at Pazmany Peter Catholic University.

Bager will replace Csaba Kandracs, who is resigning to focus on heading the Hungarian Reorganisation and Receivables Management Company (MARK), established by the central bank in the autumn to buy bad commercial real estate loans and properties from banks.

Kandracs was one of five external members of the nine-member Monetary Council. By law, the Council’s external members must exceed the number of internal members.

Lawmakers also voted on appointments to the NBH’s supervisory board on Monday.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters