György Matolcsy

György Huba Matolcsy (born 18 July 1955) is a Hungarian politician and economist who was governor of the Hungarian National Bank (MNB) for 12 years until March 2025. He previously served as Minister of National Economy from 2000 to 2002 during the first cabinet of Viktor Orbán and from 2010 to 2013 in the second Orbán Cabinet.

Career In 1977, he graduated from the Faculty of Economics of Corvinus University of Budapest, at that time known as the Karl Marx University of Economics and Industry, and in 1984 received a PhD in economics from the same institution, the only university in Hungary before the fall of Communism where one could graduate from economics. He also said in the Parliament on 14 November 2011, just four days before the ministry's announcement, in a response to a Jobbik politician, "the government forming its economic policy against this three-letter institution [IMF]."

On 1 March 2013, Prime Minister Orbán nominated Matolcsy to the position of the Head of the Hungarian National Bank (MNB). Orbán said "performance and the facts point towards one man, and that is György Matolcsy." The Hungarian forint had steadily dropped when became official information that Matolcsy will be appointed governor. He took the office on 4 March, replacing András Simor.

He is the author of publications in the field of economics. The book, entitled Economic Balance and Growth, was published on 5 March 2015 and was translated and published in English in December 2015. It is the first of the Magyar Nemzeti Bank's book series.

Criticism Numerous economists and banking experts have been critical of Matolcsy's unorthodox actions regarding the Hungarian National Bank's monetary policy, including former World Bank director Lajos Bokros and Raiffeisen Bank (Hungary) former CEO Péter Felcsuti. In an English language interview with Hungarian news website The Budapest Beacon, Bokros criticized Matolcsy for being a political appointee who knows nothing about monetary economics. Felcsuti said of Matolcsy, "To suggest that he is a lunatic wouldn’t be fair. He has a view which is basically very critical of the neoliberal economic school. It’s very Keynesian. He doesn't believe in the market and he believes much more in the government that guides or directs the market. I’ll say that much about him. These are things that can be said within the frame of academic debate."

Accusations of corruption

In 2019, the Supreme Court of Hungary ruled that there was sufficient factual basis that accusing György Matolcsy of stealing public money did not constitute libel.

In March 2025, the Hungarian state audit office wrote a report finding that the bank, and its leader, György Matolcsy took part in laundering of 500 billion forints (approximately 1,2 billion euros) worth of money. It has been described in Hungarian media as the biggest bank robbery in world history, as it has surpassed Saddam Hussein 1b$ heist of the national bank of Iraq, which is often mentioned as such.