NBH Governor György Matolcsy has said the forint has been crucial to Hungary’s economic turnaround and management of the coronavirus crisis.
Speaking to Magyar Nemzet, the governor said that notwithstanding Hungary’s obligation to adopt the euro, the single currency should only be adopted solely on the basis of Hungary’s national interests. He said Hungary’s recovery from the 2008 global economic and financial crisis and management of the 2020/2021 crisis would not have succeeded had it adopted the euro. Neither would the government have been able to introduce a new tax system. He argued that the experiences of euro zone members over the past two decades showed the euro had brought about greater failure than success.
The governor added that the dollar still made up 61 percent of international reserves globally. Meanwhile, western Europe’s heft in the global economy had shrunk “mainly because of the euro”. The euro should only be introduced when it is safe to do so and “promises success”, Matolcsy said.