Jelasity replaces András Becsei, the CEO of OTP Mortgage Bank, who will now serve as deputy chair of the association.

The new chairman acknowledged the challenges the coronavirus pandemic poses to the economy and to society, but said he believed “in the positive economic role of the banking sector as a catalyst”.

Jelasity said he intended to strengthen the confidence of bank clients, raise the international profile of the Hungarian banking sector, foster its domestic reputation and maintain the sector’s continuous cooperation with regulatory authorities.

He said the fast and efficient implementation of economic programmes launched by the government and the central bank are a shared task of the banking sector. The sector actively supports the programmes aiming to re-start the economy, he added.

MTI Photo: Zsolt Czeglédi