Hungarian forint at 3-month low: no recovery in sight

The forint was at a three-month low on Wednesday afternoon, and there is no telling when it will recover.

The forint started to weaken on Wednesday morning, helped by the unpleasant news of the Hungarian 2023 Q4 GDP data and the significant strengthening of the dollar alongside yesterday’s US inflation data. The EUR/HUF exchange rate jumped from near 387 to 387.7, Portfolio reports.

At 2 PM, the shortened minutes of the Hungarian central bank’s interest rate decision at the end of January were released, showing that two members of the Monetary Council had backed a 100 basis point rate cut instead of the 75 basis point cut that eventually occurred. The forint then started to fall from around 388.7 to around 389.5 in a short period of time.

The dollar rose to near the 364 level, a new three-month low for the forint.

After a fall in the afternoon, the forint recovered somewhat to below 389 against the euro only to fall again to 389.13 at 5.20 PM.

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