Eurozone entry criteria to be met by 2030

HUNGARY - In Brief 17 Apr 2026 by Istvan Racz

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Tisza's candidate for finance minister, Mr. Kármán said yesterday that the new government will aim at meeting euro introduction criteria by 2030. In short term, the new government is going to review the fiscal situation, and then propose the amendment of the 2026 budget. As part of that proposal, they also want to set a specific convergence path to meeting the entry criteria.At the same time, Mr. Kármán also spoke to the outgoing economy minister, Mr. Nagy, who, according to Mr. Kármán's words, told him that the existing 5% of GDP target for Hungary's fiscal deficit for 2026 cannot be met with the existing policy framework. This is no great surprise, of course, in view of Fidesz' heavy spending on its election campaign and the most recent increase in energy import prices.Importantly, Mr. Magyar spoke to MOL's CEO, Mr. Hernádi, after which he said that the existing 'protected fuel prices' would be maintained by the new Tisza government, in a way that it should not put any extra burden on the government budget, except for the continuation of the current government's HUF20/litre reduction of the excise tax after its current expiration date of April 30. (Mr. Magyar has already called upon PM Orbán to extend the excise tax cut for another month before its current legal expiry date.) It is difficult to explain this in any other way than Mr. Magyar expecting Mol to pay the extra costs of 'protected prices', which is estimated around HUF350bn or 0.4% of GDP annually at the current level of the 'unprotected' retail prices of fuels. Mr. Magyar has also said he expects MOL not to pay a HUF25bn planned dividend to the MCC foundation (Mr.Orbán's political favourite), and generally ...