Hungary's parliament on Tuesday curbed the right to request information on the use of public funds, sparking consternation from international graft watchdog Transparency International and the opposition. Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government says the amendment, approved by lawmakers in a fast-track procedure, would prevent the "abuse of data requests" that clog up the work of the data protection agency and other organisations.

By Gergely Szakacs BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary's central bank cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point for the ninth month running on Tuesday, taking advantage of record low inflation to bolster government efforts to drag the indebted economy out of recession. Like previous months, there had been speculation ahead of the decision of a larger half-point cut as new Governor Gyorgy Matolcsy pushes forward with other measures to support small business, revive lending and help rebalance the economy.

The European Union warned Hungary on Friday that it faced possible sanctions over controversial constitutional changes which appear incompatible with EU legislation and the rule of law. In a letter to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso said an initial legal review had raised "serious concerns" over the changes, which among other things limit the powers of the key Constitutional Court and reinstate measures its judges had ruled void.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission intends to take legal action against Hungary over amendments made to its constitution, the EU executive said on Friday, raising doubts over whether the changes were compatible with European Union law. The EU, the United States and human rights organisations have accused Orban of using constitutional amendments to limit the powers of Hungary's top court and undermine democracy in the former Soviet satellite.