On December 8, 2025, the presidents of the Hungarian National Bank (MNB) and the Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) met in Budapest to discuss their professional cooperation. They agreed to strengthen their relationship further to achieve price stability, which is crucial for the economy and society.

The MNB's primary role is to ensure price stability, while the GVH focuses on maintaining fair economic competition. Both institutions also play significant roles in consumer protection, highlighting their interconnected responsibilities.

During the meeting, they reviewed the experiences from the competition statistics database jointly operated by the GVH and MNB, noting that market competition in Hungary mirrors that of Western Europe. They also discussed the GVH's experiences regarding the examination of financial service providers.

GVH President Rigó Csaba Balázs emphasized the authority's commitment to supporting growth-enhancing economic processes within its legal framework. He noted that the GVH has already intervened in several areas to combat inflation and is prepared to take decisive action against market players whose behavior exacerbates inflationary trends.

A central topic of the discussion was the recent strengthening of the Hungarian forint against the euro and the dollar. Both parties agreed on the economic and social goal of ensuring that retailers reduce consumer prices for imported goods as a positive effect of the forint's appreciation. They plan to collaborate using various market investigation and analysis tools to enforce this.

MNB President Varga Mihály highlighted that the cooperation between the central bank and the competition authority is being placed on new foundations to reduce inflation. Joint research and analyses will enhance transparency, measure market competition, and help identify the effects of competition distortions.

Both leaders agreed to reinforce and expand the cooperation agreement established in 2020, further tightening their professional ties in the near future.