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Hungary's central bank raised its base rate outlook to between 6.75% and 7% by the end of June, Deputy Governor Barnabas Virag said on Tuesday, trimming 25 basis points off its previous outlook for rate cuts amid high services price pressures.
After lowering its base rate by 50 basis points to 7.75% last month, as expected, the smallest step in an easing cycle totalling 1,025 bps over the last year, the bank said it was in "no rush" to reduce borrowing costs further.
"We cannot sit back," Virag told a business conference organised by financial news website portfolio.hu.
"More and more efforts are needed to reach price stability and ensure continued disinflation."
Virag added that the scope for further rate easing in the second half would be "limited" due to uncertainty over the policy course of major central banks. (Reporting by Gergely Szakacs Editing by Bernadette Baum)