Is Hungary ready to join the eurozone soon from the Minister of Finances and Central Bank Representatives’ viewpoint?

Even though some of the general preparation steps are planned and there is a clear goal of adopting the euro as the official currency, it is hard to provide specific dates so far in the future, as the Minister of Finances of this country says. The previous news has led to more interest in this topic and the probability that the process could start in the next 5 years, but it has been denied by the Ministry of Finance for not providing new information on the topic. Currently, Hungary does not have an official target date to adopt the euro. It is premature to talk about Hungary adopting the euro, the Hungarian Minister of Finances said at the Tranzit festival in Tihany, in western Hungary.

At the same event from the same ministry, it was stated that it is important to restore balance to the economy as soon as possible, and fiscal policy must aim at reducing the deficit and the public debt. At one point, Hungary had been in a position to meet all conditions for joining the eurozone, bar the exchange-rate requirement, and the two most recent crises confirmed that had Hungary adopted the single currency, the Hungarian economy would be exposed to far less risk, the Minister of Finances said. But drawbacks, he added, were having to abandon an independent monetary policy and that the European Central Bank based its decisions mainly on the criteria of core countries such as France, Germany, and Italy.

Additionally, the central bank representative stated during the debate that Hungary was now far away from joining the eurozone in reality. Based on the current predictions, if there are no bigger advancements in the near future, the country may be able to adopt the currency no earlier than 2030.