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20th December, 2024

Forint at two-year low against euro



The forint fell to a historic low against the pound and a two-year low against the euro on Thursday as investors reacted to Wednesday’s hawkish message from the US Federal Reserve and its signals of fewer rate cuts than expected earlier.

The stronger dollar has damaged other emerging market currencies as well, traders said.

Against the euro, the forint weakened to 416, while one pound bought Ft 505 at some point on the interbank market before retreating to 500.

So far this year, the Hungarian currency shed 25% of its value against the dollar and 8% versus the euro.

In an interview with Mandiner, Prime Minister Viktor Orban blamed the forint’s recent slide on speculative activity, suggesting that such movements are driven by profit-seeking "hawks" like George Soros rather than economic fundamentals.

He argued that such fluctuations in a short time are not justified and said it is impossible that markets value the euro at Ft 390 and a week later at Ft 410, as the state of the economy cannot change that much in one week.

Sources regularly consulted, with abbreviations used in text: Népszabadság (N); Magyar Hírlap (MH); Világgazdaság (VG); Napi Gazdaság (NG); Magyar Nemzet (MN); Népszava (Nsz); Kossuth Rádió news (KR); nightly TV news (TV).

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