HUNGARY: Fidesz Narrows Tisza's Lead to 14 Points in New Poll

* According to a new poll by 21 Research Center, published by 24.hu, Orban's Fidesz party has narrowed Tisza's lead to 14 points. * According to the poll, Tisza's advantage over Fidesz is 8ppts among the total population and 14ppts among decided voters. * The poll implies that Tisza would win 115 of the 199 parliamentary seats if an election were held this Sunday.

CZECHIA: Parliament To Approve Delayed 2026 Budget, Gov't Holds Debt Auction

* CNB Monetary Section Director Petr Sklen said that 'increased core inflation and, more recently, an increase in global cost pressures represent reasons for caution in monetary policy' in spite of the 'previous very favorable development of overall inflation'. Official statistics showed that core inflation stayed unchanged at +2.7% Y/Y in February. * Bank Board's Jakub Seidler said that growth in service producer prices recently lost momentum, according to the slides from his presentation posted on the CNB's website. On the other hand, he noted that wages are still growing at a swift pace, with wage growth in services being stronger than in the rest of the economy. He expressed the view that discussions about potential CNB rate hikes were premature, while a discussion on rate cuts could resume if the Iran war eased. * The Chamber of Deputies is due to vote on the 2026 state budget envisaging a deficit of CZK310bn. Lawmakers will first decide on the proposed reallocations of funds within the existing framework before voting on the entire bill. The governing coalition has a comfortable majority to pass the budget after months of operating on a provisional fiscal plan. * The Finance Ministry is looking to sell CZK2.0bn of 1.75% 2032 bonds, CZK2.0bn of 4.25% 2034 bonds and CZK1.0bn of variable-rate 2038 bonds.

RUSSIA: Budget Deficit Widens, Reaching 1.5% of GDP

* Russia's federal budget deficit widened to RUB 3.45tn, or 1.5% of GDP, in the first two months of 2026, a record high for January-February and almost equivalent to the target for the whole year, Kommersant report. The newspaper note that this was due to the drop in oil and gas revenues and a substantial increase in spending. Going forward, these revenues should grow amid the current global developments. * Bloomberg report, citing people familiar with the matter, that Indian refiners have bought about 30 million barrels of Russian oil since the US allowed purchases to help the country cope with a shortfall of Middle Eastern supply. India had been winding down its purchases of Russian oil since last year in response to US pressure, filling the gap with replacement barrels from Saudi Arabia and Iraq. According to Bloomberg, Russian crude has been offered at premiums of between $2 and $8 a barrel to London's Dated Brent benchmark. * No data releases are scheduled for today. The Bank of Russia will publish reports on economic trends and the banking sector.

TURKEY: Impact of Iran War Already Filtering Through to Domestic Food Prices

* Local newspaper Nefes report that, amid the conflict in the Middle East and its impact on the cost of agricultural inputs such as diesel, fertilisers, and pesticides, many food products have already seen significant price increases on the domestic market in just 11 days. Vegetable prices have risen sharply, according to Nefes, including tomatoes (+22%), cucumbers (+20%), eggplants (+18%) and green peppers (+17%). * Turkey's central bank drained TRY 1.2tn in excess liquidity, equivalent to $27bn, from the interbank market over the past week to ensure tight conditions in the financial system, Bloomberg report. The operations to vacuum the oversupply of liras has made the central bank become a net lender of liras via open market operations for the first time since September. * The second hearing of the trial involving Ekrem Imamoglu was held yesterday. The court announced that it will take an interim decision at the end of April, Cumhuriyet report. * Retail sales rose 18.8% y/y in January versus a revised +16.5% in December, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute. That marks the highest for the series since March 2024. * No other data releases are scheduled for today, with focus turning the CBRT rate decision tomorrow. The CBRT is widely expected to leave the one-week repo rate unchanged at 37%, reflecting heightened uncertainty stemming from the conflict in the Middle East and Turkey's sensitivity to rising energy prices. The Bank's recent backdoor tightening measures make a formal rate hike improbable as well, with policymakers likely to adopt a cautious tone amid ongoing geopolitical risks. See our full preview here: https://mni.marketnews.com/4b1MMO.