Uncertainty about when the euro will be introduced

In view of Slovakia's planned conversion to the euro next year, Anna Szabó expresses concern about Hungary's efforts to join the monetary union. "This year the disparity between Hungary and Slovakia will increase. You only need to compare Hungary's economic growth in the last quarter of 2007 with that of Slovakia in the same period to see this. The latter was an amazing 14 percent. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, we are on par with Iran and Pakistan in terms of financial risk. Meanwhile, Lithuania, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia have all surpassed us. At present Hungary does not have a target date for introducing the euro. The decision-makers of this country do not even know when they will be able to set a target date. ... We have an inflation rate of six percent instead of the three percent specified by the EU, our budget deficit is twice as high as the maximum budget deficit [3 percent of the gross domestic product] and our base rate has risen. So much for the Maastricht Criteria - which we are far from fulfilling. This means we are still facing a long wait for the euro."

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