beyondbrics

Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister (pictured), has followed up an unprecedented two-thirds majority in April’s national elections with an equally emphatic poll victory at the municipal level.

But the morning after the night before everyone was asking the same 64,000 forint question: “What will the prime minister do now he doesn’t need to worry about the electorate?” Well, the short – but by no means certain – answer is: “Sack his economy minister”. Continue reading »

The forint’s summer vacation is over.

For a month the Hungarian currency had seen only moderate risk aversion from investors, but now it is under selling pressure once more. The forint lost over 2 per cent against both the euro and the dollar between Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon – although later on it did recover slightly.

The consensus explanation is a statement by Hungary’s central bank, which analysts viewed as somewhat hawkish. Continue reading »

Hungary’s football team is gearing up to play England at Wembley on Wednesday evening and its soccer-mad prime minister Viktor Orban has every reason to feel confident.

Granted, the current Hungarian side is not a patch on the legendary bunch that put England to the slaughter in 1953, in what became dubbed “the match of the century” (Final score: Hungary 6-3 England).

But with the government on Tuesday raising its 2010 growth forecast, Orban certainly has the wind behind him as he bids to restore Hungary’s “economic self-rule”. Continue reading »