Matolcsy: Hungary must reach EU average GDP to adopt euro

jessica fejos

Hungary should only adopt the euro if its GDP per capita reaches the European Union average and if its state debt as a percentage of GDP falls under the 50% threshold, National Bank of Hungary (MNB) Governor György Matolcsy said at a conference yesterday, as reported today by Hungarian news agency MTI.

“It would be advisable to give up the forint and adopt the euro only when Hungary is strong enough and fully achieves the level of development of the eurozone,” Matolcsy said at the conference organized by the MNB and the Ministry of Justice.

The MNB summarized Matolcsyʼs remarks at the conference on its website.

Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said in the summer that Hungary could adopt the euro by the end of the decade, but only if economic trends continue to improve and the common currency becomes more stable.

“If economic trends are long-lasting, if we move closer to the European Unionʼs developmental average, and if our productivity continues to improve, I donʼt consider [eurozone] accession groundless by the end of the decade,” Varga said in July.

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