Does the government intentionally weaken forint?

Opposition lawmakers have blamed the prime minister and the central bank governor for Hungary’s high rate of inflation and “the poor state” of the economy.

Speaking after the release of the central bank’s quarterly Inflation Report on Thursday, László Varjú, DK’s deputy leader, at an online press briefing accused the central bank of “taking no substantial measures” to reduce inflation. According to the bank’s latest report, headline inflation may hit ten percent this year, he said.

The caps put by the government on several product prices have only dented inflation by one percentage point, he said.

Dániel Z. Kárpát, deputy leader of Jobbik, said “the dramatic deterioration of the forint” had been prepared in advance.

“Viktor Orbán and his team have sought to please their international allies and large exporting companies by deliberately weakening the forint, and they have been assisted in their efforts by the National Bank of Hungary,”

he said.