Hungary's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate, the EU's highest, by a quarter percentage point to 6% as the forint's strength keeps inflation subdued. The Budapest-based Magyar Nemzeti Bank lowered the two-week deposit rate today for a 12th month in a row. Eight of 10 economists surveyed by Bloomberg Sept. 9 predicted the quarter-point cut. Interest rates are dropping across Eastern Europe as the region's currencies hold on to gains against the euro, curbing consumer prices by cutting the cost of imported goods.

Hungary's inflation rate halved in a year, allowing the central bank to cut its borrowing costs to the lowest in at least 20 years.