Banking Assoc. Head Calls For 'Professional Discourse'

The head of the Hungarian Banking Association, Radovan Jelasity called for "more professional discourse" with economic policy makers at a conference organized by business news portal Portfolio on Tuesday.

"The time has come again to become much, much more professional, and to acknowledge that economics also has its laws," he said.

With the new government set to take power in days, he expressed hope that "the time for discussion has arrived."

He urged economic players to respond quickly to economic policy changes on the horizon, "hopefully in a matter of days, rather than months.”

He pointed to the high price of "faulty, expensive, unpredictable" economic policies, recalling the outgoing Orbán government's policy catchphrases of "overtaking in the turn" and getting the economy off to a "flying start."

Radovan Jelasity pointed out that more than a year had passed since the new management had taken over at the National Bank of Hungary (NBH), but added that the previous twelve years had "cast a long shadow."