Euro or forint? Here is what Hungarians think
A majority of Hungarians do not think that Hungary is ready to introduce the common currency of the European Union. Meanwhile, more than 2/3rds of those asked believe that introducing the euro would be beneficial. Here are the findings of the latest relevant survey of the Republikon Institute.
Introducing the euro: Hungarians think it is realistic
According to index.hu, the Institute examined what citizens think about introducing the euro in EU states outside of the eurozone: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Sweden. Based on the institute’s findings, the majority of people do not think their countries are ready to introduce the euro. In Hungary, this rate is lower than in the other Visegrád Four countries not using the euro, like the Czech Republic and Poland.
In this respect, Hungarians and the citizens of
the analysed countries view their possibilities objectively.
In the 2020 convergence report of the European Central Bank, they say that Hungary does not meet the Maastricht criteria. The country’s 1.8 pc inflation rate and 60 pc budget deficit are very high.
Hungarians do not trust the forint?
The relative majority in Hungary and the V4 countries think they will be part of the eurozone in ten years. However, 25-33 pc of them believe that they will never use the EU’s common currency.
Interestingly, Hungarians think that the country will introduce the euro only later. However, their attitude is the second most positive towards the currency among the EU states not part of the eurozone.
An expected price increase is a common argument against introducing the euro. However, the Republikon Institute found that Hungarians are the least worried about a possible price increase. The majority of them think that using the euro would stabilise prices. The Institute wrote that the opinion might correlate with
Hungarians’ distrust in their national currency.
As we reported before, the forint became weaker and weaker against the euro in the last few months. That was beneficial for Hungarians working abroad but disadvantageous for everybody else. The opposition claims that the government intentionally weakens the national currency to help the export. The forint strengthened in the last few weeks, but the exchange rate is unstable.
Read alsoBudapest among the TOP 10 most expensive cities in Eastern Europe
Source: index.hu, DNH
1 Comment
Total Bovine Excrement. Hungarians Do NOT want the Euro. I could take a poll and get most of the respondents if they would like to see Barney become the Prime Minister of Hungary and get a majority agreement by just asking a leading question. Polls are almost alway taken to seek the desired response.