The National Bank of Hungary has published the March issue of its scientific journal, the Financial and Economic Review, bringing together studies and essays on Bulgaria’s pathway into the euro area, new text analysis tools used in economic research, how banks’ sustainability disclosures are evolving under EU rules, and the development and calibration of capital adequacy requirements. On euro adoption, research by Charles Enoch and Anne-Marie Gulde links Bulgaria’s currency board constraints and crisis-era political consensus to restored credibility and investment, and argues euro accession would bring gains such as participation in European Central Bank decision-making and lower currency and country risk, while not resolving underlying institutional and demographic problems. Methodological work by Csanád Temesvári, Beáta Horváth and Lívia Réka Ónozó applies BERT models to build a news-based economic sentiment index and improve product classification from cash register information, with results indicating the sentiment index can predict crisis periods. Regina Bodó and Edit Lippai-Makra analyse 2023 versus 2024 sustainability reports of seven banks operating in Hungary in the first year of Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive application, finding disclosures became more standardised with fewer charts and numerical data and a stronger structured narrative, and they raise proposals and regulatory interpretation issues. Additional contributions cover the evolution and suitability of capital requirements for investment firms, fiscal pressures from global challenges, and a critique of EU incentives for banks to monitor debtors’ greenhouse gas emissions, arguing this role should sit with environmental authorities and that banks should focus on financing the transition.
National Bank of Hungary 2026-03-31
National Bank of Hungary releases March Financial and Economic Review with research on Bulgaria’s euro accession, CSRD bank reporting and capital rules
The National Bank of Hungary has published the March issue of its Financial and Economic Review, featuring research on Bulgaria’s euro area accession, BERT-based text analysis in economic research, evolving bank sustainability disclosures under EU rules, and capital adequacy requirements. Articles note that euro adoption would reduce currency and country risk but not Bulgaria’s structural issues, show that a news-based sentiment index can help predict crises, and find that banks’ sustainability reports under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive have become more standardised and narrative. Other contributions assess capital requirements for investment firms, fiscal pressures from global challenges, and argue that monitoring debtors’ greenhouse gas emissions should rest with environmental authorities, not banks.