Introduction

The Financial and Economic Review (In Hungarian Hitelintézeti Szemle) edited and published by the Magyar Nemzeti Bank, following a significant content and formal renewal of recent years, has become one of the most widely read economic and financial scientific journals in Hungary, which also has a large readership abroad. In 2014, the management of the Magyar Nemzeti Bank in connection with its social responsibility activities and in the framework of broad support for education, financial literacy and scientific activities, decided to take over the Hitelintézeti Szemle, a scientific journal with decades of history, from the Banking Association and renew it.

The MNB set the objective that the journal – with its easy-to-understand but scientifically sound studies processing applied results, as well as its valuable essays, book reviews and conference reports – should effectively promote the examination and international presentation of the economic performance of the Hungarian economy and financial system and, where appropriate, that of the Central and Eastern European region, as well as the analysing evaluation of the current issues of the economics, finance and related disciplines, thereby also contributing to the successful renewal of economic thinking and economic policy activities. In this way, the Financial and Economic Review aims to create a unified platform for domestic and foreign researchers, educators and readers with a scientific interest, which can be used as a starting point for a deeper understanding and analysis of the region’s economic and social processes. At the same time, the journal also helps the authors of academic papers to be references at international level. In pursuit of these goals, the Financial and Economic Review relies on an experienced and high-skilled international editorial board, and in the course of peer review, the scientific knowledge and professionalism of renowned experts of higher education institutions and research institutes.

Since the Magyar Nemzeti Bank first published the Financial and Economic Review, more than 200 separate writings have been included in the regular issues of the scientific journal in the form of peer-reviewed studies, essay-type papers, book reviews, reports on conferences and other scientific activities.

The result of the renewal of the Hitelintézeti Szemle is also confirmed by its scientific qualification. In addition to a category B rating from the Doctoral Committee on Economics, the journal of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, as of 2017, also has a category B rating from the Regional Scientific Committee and a category C rating from the Demography Committee as a recognition of professional work at the editorial office. Since 2017, besides the Hungarian MATARKA and the international IDEAS/RePEc systems, the articles published in the journal are also listed in the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) system, which also supports the ever-wider presence in the international scientific community.

The Hitelintézeti Szemle, in addition to having become one of the widely known and recognized journals in the economics and finance profession in Hungary, is gaining more and more attention on the international level because of the contents available in English as well as Chinese. This is partly due to the fact that the published studies contain not only scientific and practical conclusions for further thinking, but also, in many cases, examples and suggestions that are very useful for economic policy, economy and financial system. The issues the journal, published also in English, are available in some 70 countries around the world.

In addition to quarterly publications, thematic special issues have also been published elaborating some topics of high public interest (such as the Structure and Evolution of Banking Systems, China). Since 2018, as a result of further development of the journal, a Chinese-language publication has also been published: a volume of selection containing the most read articles of a given year. Writings of the Hitelintézeti Szemle are thus available in Hungarian, English and, where appropriate, in Chinese as well as, and also electronically.