In reaction to the OECD’s opinion, Hungary’s State Supervision of Financial Institutions (PSZÁF) stated that the market watchdog does not find the profitability rate of Hungarian banks exceptional. According to PSZÁF, Hungarian banks produced 18% return on assets in 2003, exceeding the average 11% in new member states and 10% in old member countries, however the Hungarian figure pales to the 15%–20% return banks achieved in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Baltic states. PSZÁF says Hungarian banks’ achieved 4% real margins on average in 2003, about 2.5 times the average in old EU member states, due to high inflation and high central bank rates.