Steven N.
The euro could become Hungary’s currency in five years, said representatives of the United for Hungary opposition coalition in describing their economic policy program, as reported by news agency MTI. The politicians discussed adopting the euro, the tax system, and inflation at an event on economic policy.
Tamás Mellár of Dialogue believes that bringing Hungary into the eurozone could take five years, but the Maastricht criteria still have to be met, so the forint exchange rate must be kept within a narrow range. In addition, the “devaluation policy” of the Orbán government will have to come to an end, he said.
DK’s László Varju stated that the lack of political will over the past ten years has prevented Hungary from getting closer to adopting the euro.
Another representative, Antal Csardi from LMP, believes that Hungary should have multiple tax brackets instead of a flat personal income tax rate, and that the minimum wage should be tax-free. Csárdi would also rethink the multi-rate VAT system. Multinational companies in Hungary pay only a third in taxes compared to smaller Hungarian companies, which he considers unacceptable.
Zoltán Vajda, representing the MSZP and the Everybody’s Hungary Movement, said that the central bank’s inflation policy is irresponsible, and continuous interest rate increases by the central bank do not strengthen the forint.
[Magyar Hang][Photo: C.Suthorn / cc-by-sa-4.0 / commons.wikimedia.org]
