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Conservative economist proposes individual treasury savings accounts

November 3rd, 2018

A pro-government economist calls for the National Bank to intervene in the savings market to encourage Hungarian families to buy government T-bonds rather than leaving their savings idle on commercial bank accounts.

In Magyar Hírlap, the conservative economist Imre Boros urges the National Bank to broaden its role in the savings market. Boros points out that the volume of cash savings of Hungarian families has increased nearly threefold since 2010. He calls on the National Bank to work out a special scheme to encourage Hungarian families to buy government T-bonds, and thus further decrease the ratio of FX public debt, rather than leaving their money unused in their bank accounts. Boros suggests that through such an arrangement, the National Bank would pay interest to Hungarian citizens rather than to foreign investors. This would not only further reduce Hungary’s dependence on foreign capital and currency exchange rates, but also increase the disposable income of Hungarian savers who are more likely to spend their money in the country and boost the Hungarian economy. Citizens can of course buy government bonds, but Boros thinks that the National Bank could attract high amounts of unproductive savings from commercial banks by introducing special treasury savings accounts available for individuals.

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