2023-11-27 14:25:40
VOSZ über Realzins
Written by Rainer Ackermann
The central bank’s new interest rate policy has now also received criticism from employers.
The general secretary of the employers’ association VOSZ, László Perlusz, told the business portal vg.hu that companies would not be able to cover the costs of the double-digit interest rates, with negative consequences for the entire economy. “If real interest rates are positive, the return on invested money is above inflation. The greater this return, the less willing companies are to take risks,” explained the Secretary General. More and more companies would rather use the income they generate to save it risk-free than use it to drive the economic cycle. It would be a similar situation for commercial banks, which are reluctant to extend credit in such an environment. However, without credit in the economy, investments and general development come to a standstill. “If the key interest rate cuts lag behind the decline in inflation, we will receive market interest rates for much of 2024 that no company wants to afford,” concluded Perlusz. The VOSZ therefore only sees positive real interest rates as necessary until the upward price trend is broken.
The Hungarian National Bank (MNB) communicates the need for positive real interest rates in connection with the newly initiated cycle of interest rate cuts. “Inflation is not a walk in the park, we cannot sit back and relax,” MNB Vice President Barnabás Virág warned a month ago. The positive real interest rate is needed in order to be able to continue disinflation in 2024.
#afford