Position: Hungarian central bank (NBH) Governor
Incumbent: Andras Simor, born May 17, 1954
Term: Appointed on March 3, 2007 for six years
Key facts:
-- Simor shares the plight of Hungarian central bank governors since 1990 who have all faced a hostile government in part of their terms. Viktor Orban's centre-right government, in power since May 2010, has attacked Simor and NBH rate setters who were appointed under Socialist governments.
-- The centre-right has slammed Simor's personal investments and the NBH's monetary policy which the government said was too tight. Simor has rejected calls for his resignation.
-- The government has slashed Simor's salary in a move criticised by the European Union, and plans to change appointment rules to pack the rate-setting panel with parliament appointees by March. They may vote down Simor and his two deputies as the ruling Fidesz party has a two-thirds majority in parliament.
-- Simor said in an interview in January that the bank was under "blatant pressure" from the government but criticism of rate increases were counterproductive. He also complained that communication between him and the government was thin.
-- Simor has repeatedly promised to fulfil his mandate which will end in 2013, but there is still some speculation in markets about his possible resignation ,if the Monetary Council's revamp increases tensions.
-- Sources close to Simor have described him as a fighter who was, however, upset by the government attacks.
-- Before becoming NBH chief, Simor was the head of accounting firm Deloitte's Hungarian unit. He was chairman of the Budapest Stock Exchange between 1998 and 2002. Around 1990 he developed the Hungarian brokerage unit of Austria's Creditanstalt into a market leader. (Reporting by Sandor Peto; Editing by Jon Hemming)