Forint hits all time low against the Euro
August 31st, 2019A left-wing commentator excoriates the National Bank for not intervening in defence of the national currency as its exchange rate scrapes just short of 332 to the Euro.
Blikk quotes experts who explain that the Forint is losing value along with the currencies of other emerging economies as a result of market unease due to the tariff feud between the US and China, Brexit and Germany’s unsettled economic outlook. The weaker Forint, the tabloid daily continues, helps Hungarian exporters and by implication sustains Hungary’s high growth rate despite unfavourable trends in world markets.
In Népszava, Miklós Bonta agrees that the exchange rate of the Forint has been hit by international developments rather than domestic fundamentals but thinks that the National Bank should protect the national currency against harmful shocks. He finds it unacceptable for the issuing bank to fold its arms and watch the Forint sink while inflation is already well above 3 per cent. He thinks GDP growth should not be stimulated at any cost. Business needs professionalism and clear messages from the National Bank, he writes.
On VG.hu, Balázs Latyák expects the Forint to sink further, and quotes experts who believe that there is very little the National Bank can do in the face of turbulence in the international markets. Nervous reactions by the monetary authority might just make things worse, he writes.