Parliament passes National Bank bill – Update

Budapest, March 1 (MTI) – Parliament approved on Tuesday legislation to raise the salaries of top officials of the National Bank of Hungary (NBH) and to facilitate classification of data concerning its companies and foundations.

The bill, submitted by Erik Bánki, an MP of governing Fidesz, just a day before, will raise the monthly salary of the NBH’s governor to a fixed 5 million forints (EUR 16,000), as opposed to the current cap of 2.5 million forints.

Deputy governors will make 90 percent of the governor’s salary, while policy-making Monetary Council members will earn 60 percent of that sum.

Under the new law, the central bank will have the right not to disclose information to the public on its companies “if defending the interests of its policy outweighs that of the public’s right to information on publicly-funded institutions”.

The law also allows the assets of central bank foundations to be removed from public scrutiny.

Attila Péterfalvi, the head of the National Data Protection Office, said on Monday that some passages of the proposed legislation were in conflict with a constitutional stipulation that “data relating to public funds and national assets shall be data of public interest”. He noted that a provision under which information could be classified with retroactive effect, would go against the principle of legal certainty. He added that the proposed legislation would overturn an existing, non-appealable court ruling.

The opposition Socialists earlier sued the NBH for failing to comply with a public information request regarding a foundation it established and won the case. The ruling may not be appealed.

Bánki, the proponent of the bill, voiced confidence on Tuesday that the law would stand a scrutiny by the Constitutional Court. He insisted that the central bank’s foundations were not governed by the law on the freedom of information. He noted that the foundations would be re-classified as foundations of public benefit, and as such, would be obliged to publish an annual report on their finances.

Concerning higher pay for central bank management, Banki said that those salaries have so far been “the lowest” among central banks of the European Union, and the hike would put leaders of the bank “in the medium range”.