The Hungarian forint is depreciating at a startling pace: how much further might it weaken?

While we need not anticipate a fuel supply crisis in the near term, the forint could easily tip into crisis itself, dragging down the entire Hungarian economy in its wake.

Oil and gas prices weaken Hungarian forint

This morning, the euro exchange rate edged back into sight of the 400 mark once again. The last time it was this expensive was last summer; since then, the forint has steadily strengthened. At the end of February, for instance, it took 373 forints to buy one euro, with further gains seemingly within reach despite the Hungarian National Bank’s cut in its base rate from 6.5 per cent to 6.25 per cent.

National Bank Governor Mihály Varga national bank
The new Governor of the Hungarian National Bank. Photo: FB/Mihály Varga

Trump’s attacks on Iran alongside Israel could swiftly render all this parenthetical, however, with the Hungarian national currency’s slide potentially delivering another inflationary shock to the Hungarian economy. According to Telex, the reason is straightforward: Hungary is acutely exposed to energy imports from abroad. As soon as energy prices rise, the Hungarian economy – and the forint – react sharply and immediately. Indeed, gas prices on the Dutch TTF exchange have surged by 40 per cent in a single week. Hungary sources the bulk of its gas from Russia, but Russian prices track those on the Dutch (Rotterdam) gas exchange with a lag of one or two months – which explains the forint’s current plunge. The G7 goes further, noting that the Hungarian national currency moves in sync with gas exchange rates.

Orbán and Putin in Moscow (2)
President Putin and PM Orbán in Moscow. No cheap gas? Photo: Facebook/Orbán Viktor
Continue reading

3 Comments

  1. All currencies stabilize at their intrinsic value.
    Which in case of fiat is 0.

    So yes, Ft is dead, the € is dead, $ is dead, £ is dead, and ¥ is dead.

    • I get paid over (90$ to 200$ / hour ) working from home with 2 kids at home. I never thought I would be able to do it but my best friend earns over $18000 a month doing this and she convinced me to try. it was all true and has totally changed my life… This is what I do, check it out by Visiting Following web….
      .
      HERE———————————⊃⫸ https://goo.su/N7mzHd

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *