(Bloomberg) -- Hungary must maintain fiscal discipline to avoid market turbulence even when parliamentary election campaigning heats up next year, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Saturday.
“I am not in favor of stimulus that endangers financial stability,” Orban said at a press conference at his office in Budapest. “Financial discipline isn’t the kind of thing that’s worth putting at risk.”
The forint has been trading near a two-year low against the euro, amid concern Orban could push for more stimulus before a 2026 election that’s expected to be tightly fought, after several years of missing budget targets.
Orban said his choice of Finance Minister Mihaly Varga to become the next central bank governor from March also reflected his wish to ensure market stability. The forint’s swings are more determined by global market forces than local policy, with the dollar’s strength a key factor, he said.
Orban also said he doesn’t support Hungary adopting the euro as a way to avoid market swings. While the European common currency would offer more stability, using Hungary’s forint leaves more room for maneuver in spurring faster economic growth, he said.
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