Green central bank measures and public trust: Empirical evidence from survey data

Central banks can play a key role in the change in finance needed for the green transition, but green central bank measures may also have an impact on the general public's trust in the institution. Trust, in turn, is crucial for central banks to successfully conduct monetary policy. The objective of our study is to examine how this trust may change in response to green central bank measures in Hungary, using an independently conducted survey of 1,000 adults. Our results indicate that there is potential for some increase and a limited risk of a decrease in trust as a result of green measures. Although most respondents indicated that their trust in the central bank would not change if it took pro-environmental measures, over one third of respondents thought their trust would increase (37 per cent), while the share of those indicating a decline in trust was low (6 per cent). The majority supports the active involvement of the Central Bank of Hungary in the fight against climate change, but only as long as this does not pose risks to the inflation target and the stability of the banking system. We also find that Hungarians tend to worry about climate change and, accordingly, they consider the central bank's role in environmental sustainability important, but have little knowledge about the tasks of central banks.