Hungary MNB central bank base rate (jegybanki alapkamat)
Hungary MNB central bank base rate (jegybanki alapkamat) is 5.5 percent, in force since 26 Aug 2026. It was 5.75 percent before that. Last checked against the official source on 5 Sep 2026.
Magyar Nemzeti Bank jegybanki alapkamat — the policy rate of the Hungarian central bank, set by the Monetary Council (Monetáris Tanács) at its rate-setting meetings (normally the fourth Tuesday of each month) and promulgated as an MNB decree (rendelet) in the Magyar Közlöny. Hungary is an EU member but NOT in the euro area: it keeps the forint and an independent national monetary policy, so the MNB base rate — not the ECB deposit facility rate — is the operative policy rate.
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| Current value | 5.5 percent |
|---|---|
| In force from | 2026-08-26 |
| Official source | MNB ? Press release on the Monetary Council meeting of 25 August 2026: the Council reduced the base rate by 25 basis points to 5.50 percent, the O/N deposit rate to 4.50 percent and the O/N collateralised lending rate to 6.50 percent, with effect from 26 August 2026 |
| Last verified | 2026-09-05 |
| Verification | primary — No verification limitation recorded — read from the official source cited. |
| Provenance | source fingerprint |
What this value means
Latest decision as of confirmation: 25 August 2026 (announced Tuesday, effective the following day, 26 August 2026, when the MNB decree enters into force). Interest rate corridor is symmetric at ?100bp: O/N deposit 4.50%, O/N collateralised lending 6.50%. 2026 path so far ? 27 Jan: HELD at 6.50%; 24 Feb: CUT 25bp to 6.25% (effective 25 Feb), the first move in 17 months and the start of the current easing cycle; 24 Mar, 28 Apr and 26 May: HELD at 6.25%; 23 Jun: CUT 25bp to 6.00% (effective 24 Jun); 21 Jul: CUT 25bp to 5.75% (effective 22 Jul); 25 Aug: CUT 25bp to 5.50% (effective 26 Aug), the third consecutive monthly 25bp cut. Forward guidance in the August statement: 'The Council will decide on the future path of the base rate based on the September Inflation Report.' July inflation eased to 1.2% YoY (core 1.9%), below the June Inflation Report projection and the 3% target. TRAPS: (1) do not substitute the ECB rate ? Hungary is EU but non-eurozone; (2) do not use the O/N collateralised lending rate (6.50%) or the O/N deposit rate (4.50%), which are the corridor bounds, nor the discontinued one-day deposit quick-tender rate that was the DE FACTO effective rate during the 2022?2023 emergency regime ? since autumn 2023 the alapkamat is again the effective policy rate; (3) the effective date is the day AFTER the decision, because the rate is legally the entry into force of an MNB rendelet. Governor: Varga Mih?ly (since March 2025). Canonical MNB time series of base rate changes and their decree entry-into-force dates: https://www.mnb.hu/Jegybanki_alapkamat_alakulasa (machine-readable at https://www.mnb.hu/root/BaseRate/BaseRateExcel/alapkamat.xlsx ? fetched 2026-08-26; the spreadsheet's latest row was still 5.75% from 2026-07-22, i.e. it had not yet absorbed the 25 August decision; the press release is the live instrument). All Monetary Council press releases (EN): https://www.mnb.hu/en/monetary-policy/the-monetary-council/press-releases . Abridged minutes of the 25 August meeting: 2 p.m. on 9 September 2026.
Earlier values
| From | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-22 | 5.75 | MNB — Press release on the Monetary Council meeting of 21… |
| 2026-06-24 | 6 | MNB — Press release on the Monetary Council meeting of 23… |
| 2026-02-25 | 6.25 | MNB — Press release on the Monetary Council meeting of 24… |
| 2024-09-25 | 6.5 | MNB — Press release on the Monetary Council meeting of 24… |
| 2024-07-24 | 6.75 | Bank for International Settlements - Central Bank Policy… |
| 2024-06-19 | 7 | Bank for International Settlements - Central Bank Policy… |
| 2024-05-22 | 7.25 | Bank for International Settlements - Central Bank Policy… |
| 2024-04-24 | 7.75 | Bank for International Settlements - Central Bank Policy… |
| 2024-03-27 | 8.25 | Bank for International Settlements - Central Bank Policy… |
| 2024-02-28 | 9 | Bank for International Settlements - Central Bank Policy… |
| 2024-01-31 | 10 | Bank for International Settlements - Central Bank Policy… |
| 2023-12-20 | 10.75 | Bank for International Settlements - Central Bank Policy… |
Get it programmatically
curl https://euroref.dev/v1/hu/policy-rate
# $0.005 per call — x402 on Base (USDC). No key, no signup.
# History: curl https://euroref.dev/v1/hu/policy-rate/history?from=2020-01-01
# Provenance: curl https://euroref.dev/provenance/hu/policy-rateOther Hungary series: ÁFA standard rate (általános forgalmi adó, általános adómérték) · VAT registration threshold · Minimum wage (kötelező legkisebb munkabér / minimálbér), monthly gross · Public holidays (munkaszüneti napok) · CPI inflation (fogyasztóiár-index, year-on-year) · Corporate income tax rate (társasági adó) · Withholding tax rates · Personal income tax rate (személyi jövedelemadó), flat · Statutory social-insurance contributions · Statutory default interest (késedelmi kamat) · MNB official exchange rates
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