HUNGARY
Analyst
Istvan Racz
Former Director, Central BankDatabanks
Recent Country Insights
'Fidesz-puppets' to be sacked in about a month, PM Magyar claims
HUNGARY · In Brief · 01 Jun 2026
On May 31, the deadline set by PM Magyar for eight constitutionally independent top public officials to step down voluntarily expired. They include the President of the Republic, the Prosecutor General and the heads of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the National Bureau for the Judic...
€16.4bn of EU funds to Hungary now conditionally unblocked
HUNGARY · In Brief · 30 May 2026 · 1 response
This was announced at a press conference held by Mme von der Leyen and PM Magyar on Friday, May 29. Of the total amount, €12.9bn represents grants and a further €3.5bn represents low-cost loans. Prior to this announcement, a total of €17.6bn was known as being blocked, so not all, but most of the...
No change from the MNB and Moody's, difficult talks with EU continue, and further steps are made towards democracy
HUNGARY · In Brief · 26 May 2026
Really a lot is happening in these days. Today, the MNB kept the base rate unchanged at 6.25%. The Council discussed a hold and a rate cut scenario, Mr. Varga said after the meeting, and there was (were?) also vote(s?) supporting a rate reduction as well. Positives observed by the Council include...
Tisza has taken over in a normal way, with no disruptions
HUNGARY · Report · 21 May 2026
Tisza had set up its government cabinet and taken over the administration by early May, which represents record high speed historically. No extraordinary events or disruptions occurred, despite earlier widespread fears that Fidesz could hesitate to transfer power. However, Tisza’s takeover has...
The new government has effectively started fiscal adjustment
HUNGARY · In Brief · 17 May 2026
This year's fiscal deficit (by Eurostat definition) is officially expected to reach 6.8% of GDP, against the original 3.7% target, which was amended later to 4.5% and then even later to 5%. This is not an estimate from the new Finance Ministry; it is the estimate with which the outgoing economy m...
Dr. Carter is going home tonight (and some other timely updates)
HUNGARY · In Brief · 13 May 2026
Dr. Carter (see picture below) is a fictional character from the once world famous television series ER (Emergency Room), of course, arguably the favourite of that show among the Hungarian audience. What makes mentioning him timely today is that Hungary has also had its own ER series over the pas...
Domestic political risk has fallen markedly: Péter Magyar elected for prime minister today
HUNGARY · In Brief · 09 May 2026
The newly elected National Assembly held its first session today. Péter Magyar was elected for prime minister, the institutional structure of the new government, meaning the list of ministries, is now approved, and the new government cabinet is expected to be up and running by May 12, Tuesday. Th...
The Orbán regime shows early signs of disintegration
HUNGARY · In Brief · 06 May 2026
It is still three days to go until the first session of the newly elected parliament, at which Mr. Magyar is supposed to be elected as prime minister. Yet it is spectacular that outgoing PM Orbán's power machine does not seem to work exactly as a precise Swiss-made clockwork any more. Initially, ...
Magyar in Brussels, Varga on HUF speculation, and politically driven capital flight
HUNGARY · In Brief · 03 May 2026
Incoming PM Magyar visited the EU headquarters in the middle of last week, seeing the heads of the Commission and the Council separately. With Mme von den Leyen, they agreed that Mr. Magyar will return to Brussels, already as PM, on May 25, to strike a political deal on what exactly Hungary will ...