Hungary’s national bank is sticking to its commitment to leave interest rates at record low levels, having decided Tuesday to leave them where they are at 2.1 percent. The decision, the same as on the four previous months, was not unexpected, but it remains in stark contrast to the two straight years of rate reductions. These brought the prime rate from 7 percent to its current level. In the background of the decision was a 0.4 percent fall in consumer prices in October, compared to the same month last year. Thanks to government measures to keep utility prices down, the central bank expects inflation to limit itself to a whisper-thin 0.1 percent, but to rise to 2.5 percent in 2015.
