Time to reform the euro in 2022, Hungary central bank chief says

Portfolio
The upcoming 30th anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty in 2022 would be a good occasion to reform the euro area, but this will require a dialogue, Hungary central bank chief György Matolcsy said on Monday at the National Bank of Hungary's (MNB) Lámfalussy Lectures conference. It is important that member states outside the euro area also have a voice in this discussion, he added.

sIn economic convergence, the biggest challenges are geopolitics, new technologies and the new financial system, and there is also the megatrend that is climate change, Matolcsy said at the conference on Monday.

According to Matolcsy, Hungary has been on a sustainable convergence path since 2013, with its average 3.8% annual growth more than 2 percentage points above the euro area's average. GDP per capita is currently 73% of the EU average and is closing the gap. The third important pillar of convergence is that Hungary's debt could drop below 60% of GDP by 2022, the MNB president said.

Twenty years after the euro's introduction, some basic conditions have still not been met, and there is a need for a new dialogue on how to reform the euro area, Matolcsy said, adding that the upcoming 30th anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty in 2022 would be a good occasion for reforms.

In theory, all member states undertook at the time of accession to eventually introduce the euro. However, we were not present in Maastricht in 1992 and were not involved in setting the criteria,

Matolcsy stated.

Peter Praet, former Belgian member of the European Central Bank's board and the recipient of this year's Lámfalussy award, concurred that urgent reforms were necessary. Imbalances were already present in the first decade of the euro area but the signs have been ignored, he added.

It is important to set deadlines on these reforms. It is not enough to say we will eventually finalise the banking union, we need deadlines.

Praet said.

 

More in Economy

magyar parlament
November 08, 2024 15:07

Hungarian growth could be surprisingly anaemic also in 2025, Erste cuts forecast

Economy is expected to hardly grow this year too

Steffen Hoffmann, a Bosch csoport észak- és kelet-európai regionális elnöke, az Egyesült Királyságért és Írországért felelős ügyvezető igazgatója
November 08, 2024 11:00

Bosch: We need a broad technological approach to reach decarbonization goals

Interview with Steffen Hoffmann, president Northern and Eastern Europe, and managing director United Kingdom and Ireland at Bosch

orbán viktor epc csúcs
November 08, 2024 09:57

Hungarian PM Orbán warns of "tough talks on trade" faced by Europe and the U.S.

Need to be prepared for Donald Trump's earlier promises

November 08, 2024 09:42

Fuel prices go up again on Saturday

Another hike in Hungarian wholesale fuel prices

D_KOS20241107114
November 08, 2024 09:23

Zelenskyy sends a message to Donald Trump from the Budapest EPC summit

He said that a ceasefire would not be a solution at the moment

November 07, 2024 16:05

Hungarian gov't to submit budget bill to Parliament on Monday

After opinion by the Fiscal Council

LATEST NEWS

Detailed search