Left urges Hungary to join the Eurozone
July 16th, 2020Endorsing the position of the main opposition parties, a left-wing commentator believes the government is harming the national interest by not joining the Eurozone.
In Népszava, Miklós Bonta suggests that a referendum should decide whether Hungary should part with the Forint. He quotes a recent poll according to which two-thirds of Hungarians would be happier inside the Eurozone. He finds this understandable, given the ten percent fall in the value of the national currency during the coronavirus slump. Meanwhile, he remarks, while Finance Minister Mihály Varga still maintains that Hungary will introduce the Euro in the long run, György Matolcsy, President of the National Bank would make this conditional on structural changes in the Eurozone. Bonta suspects the Prime Minister supports the latter position in order to avoid closer oversight of Hungarian banks – some of which, he asserts, are bending to the wishes of the government. In the meantime, Bonta writes, Hungary may well be missing out on important funds that may only be distributed among eurozone countries.