Hungary Minutes Still See Inflation Moderating in 2023

NBH minutes release here: https://www.mnb.hu/en/monetary-policy/the-monetary...

Minutes highlights:

• Unchanged decision was unanimous
• High-frequency data showed that the Hungarian economic growth had been clearly slowing since early June.
• Inflation expectations remained elevated, while expectations of increases in retail prices had fallen as demand had weakened
• Inflation in Hungary had mainly been fuelled by items outside the scope of monetary policy
• Domestic inflation would decrease slowly in the first half of 2023, and then more significantly from the middle of the year. The consumer price index would return to the central bank tolerance band in the first half of 2024
• Several decision makers pointed out that the rise in domestic inflation had been driven mainly by increases in food and energy prices in recent months and that domestic demand had begun to decline. This, alongside falling global commodity prices indicated a turnaround in domestic inflation as well.