Natural, economic and social changes associated with climate change are one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. Climate change has implications for price stability, financial stability and sustainable growth; therefore, it needs to be addressed as a priority by central banks.
In recent years, the MNB has taken several steps to promote the development of green financial markets and to foster environmentally conscious consumer attitudes, thus backing the fight against climate change. A pioneering initiative is MNB's Green Programme, which seeks to contribute to mitigating the ecological, economic and financial risks arising from environmental problems, particularly in the area of financial regulation. Following the decision of the National Assembly on 28 May 2021, the legal mandate of the MNB includes the promotion of environmental sustainability. MNB's mission is to develop its monetary policy instruments to support long-term environmentally sustainable growth without compromising the primary objective of price stability.
On 6 July 2021, the Monetary Council adopted the strategic document „Sustainability and Central Bank Policy – Green aspects of the Magyar Nemzeti Bank’s monetary policy toolkit”. This paper provides a comprehensive framework of possible ways in which the MNB can incorporate sustainability considerations to its monetary policy instruments. In practice, this can be seen as the MNB's green monetary policy toolkit strategy. This strategy includes the theoretical framework underpinning the central bank’s long-term operations, under which the MNB continuously examines how elements of the monetary policy toolkit can help to achieve price stability and environmental sustainability objectives. However, policy actions related to environmental sustainability does not affect the prevailing stance of monetary policy. The MNB aims to support sustainable economic transformation and the achievement of international and domestic climate goals with the adoption of the strategic document. By increasing the climate awareness of the financial system and contributing to the development of a more climate-resilient financial and social culture, the MNB promotes the best international practices related to its monetary policy instruments within the framework set by the Central Bank Act. Without prejudice to its primary objective, the MNB shall support the maintenance of the stability of the financial system, the enhancement of its resilience and its sustainable contribution to economic growth; furthermore, the MNB shall support the government’s economic policy and its policy related to environmental sustainability, using instruments at its disposal.
In July 2022, the MNB published a summary on the results of the first year which is called „Monetary policy for sustainability - Book of studies of the Magyar Nemzeti Bank on the first year of the green monetary policy toolkit strategy” and is available to the public.