Increasing lending is “the only reasonable move” banks could take amid the coronavirus epidemic, Márton Nagy, deputy governor of the central bank, told an online conference. As opposed to the 2008 financial crisis, the current situation calls for “an anti-cyclical banking system”, he said, adding that both the government and the National Bank of Hungary were ready to provide support to banks. Nagy said that “a pro-cyclical approach” by banks, rather than lending, would but further deepen the crisis.