Hungary to join euro zone in 2024

Hungary will be ready to join the euro area by the end of 2024, said Arpad Kovacs, chairman of the Hungarian Fiscal Council, which has broad powers to control the development and execution of the state budget, Report informs referring to the MTI news agency.

"Hungary will be able to meet the Maastricht criteria by the end of 2024," he said, speaking at the Fejer Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Such criteria are established by the Treaty on the European Union of 1992 and relate to the country's financial and economic indicators necessary for joining the eurozone. They assess the stability of the financial system, the price level and the stability of the exchange rate.

Kovacs believes that by the summer of 2024, consumer price growth in Hungary could fall to 3%, public debt will be reduced to below 70% of GDP, and the budget deficit will be about 2.9%. According to his estimates, Hungary's GDP growth will be about 1% this year, but next year this figure will increase to 3.5-4%.