Hungary will submit a revised medium-term fiscal framework later this year that will outline the country’s path toward meeting the criteria for adopting the euro, Finance Minister András Kármán announced at a press conference in Budapest on Friday.
Kármán spoke following a meeting with Prime Minister Péter Magyar and Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis, where the participants discussed progress on unlocking European Union funds and the remaining steps needed before the resources can be fully utilized in Hungary.
According to the minister, the talks also covered the key milestones and challenges on the road to joining the eurozone, the possibility of voluntary participation in the European Banking Union, and measures to strengthen European competitiveness, with particular emphasis on developing the continent’s capital markets.
Kármán pointed to Greece as an example of successful fiscal reform, noting that for the first time, it is no longer expected to be the European Union’s most indebted member state. He said Greece had abandoned the unsustainable fiscal policies that contributed to its debt crisis and had become an example of budgetary discipline.
The minister described the discussions as productive and said Prime Minister Péter Magyar had presented the government’s economic priorities, including restarting growth, pursuing responsible fiscal management, and creating a predictable business environment.
Kármán also confirmed that Hungary’s revised Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) plan had recently been approved by the European Commission. The final step will be approval by EU finance ministers at the Ecofin Council meeting scheduled for 10 July.
The finance minister argued that Europe needs deeper and more integrated capital markets to remain competitive with the United States. He said limited access to market-based financing remains a disadvantage for small and medium-sized enterprises in countries such as Hungary, where businesses still rely heavily on bank lending.
He added that stronger European capital markets would also provide savers with a broader range of investment opportunities, reducing the large volume of cash holdings and non-interest-bearing deposits while improving long-term returns.
Responding to questions, Kármán said the government’s comprehensive review of the country’s inherited fiscal position was nearing completion. A revised 2026 budget based on updated and realistic assumptions is expected to be submitted to parliament by the end of August, while work on the 2027 budget is already underway, with a draft planned for October.
He acknowledged that meeting the Maastricht fiscal criteria—particularly reducing the budget deficit and placing public debt on a sustainable path—would be the most difficult requirement for euro adoption. Once those objectives are achieved, he said, the remaining convergence criteria should become significantly easier to meet.
Kármán added that there is no need to rush Hungary’s entry into the Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II), the mandatory two-year exchange rate system that precedes euro adoption, noting that any decision would be taken jointly with the Hungarian National Bank.
‘Bulgaria’s recent accession to the euro area…demonstrated the continued strength of the euro as the world’s second-most important international currency’
Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis said the meeting focused on Europe’s economic outlook, competitiveness, energy security, and financial market integration. He described Hungary as undergoing a historic shift that would place the country closer to the centre of European decision-making.
Pierrakakis welcomed Hungary’s ambition to deepen its financial and monetary integration with the European system, arguing that closer integration would strengthen economic stability, resilience, and long-term security.
He noted that Bulgaria’s recent accession to the euro area, following Croatia’s earlier entry, demonstrated the continued strength of the euro as the world’s second-most important international currency after the US dollar.
The Eurogroup president stressed that joining the eurozone is a rules-based process that requires the fulfilment of strict convergence criteria, including targets related to inflation, interest rates, exchange rate stability, and public finances. He encouraged the Hungarian authorities to continue implementing prudent economic policies and institutional reforms, particularly those linked to the Recovery and Resilience Facility, saying they would strengthen investor confidence and economic stability.
Pierrakakis reaffirmed the Eurogroup’s support for Hungary’s efforts to meet the necessary milestones and expressed confidence that the country could make progress toward eventual euro adoption.
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