Hungary Could Adopt Euro as Early as 2031, Central Bank Official Says

The emphasis on timing — 2029 criteria, 2028 ERM-2 entry — matters because it frames euro adoption as a policy choice tied to the government's budget and inflation record, not an external constraint. For Hungarian corporates and forint holders, the shift in question is whether convergence becomes a credible anchor or stays a baseline scenario with a one-year cushion built in. Whether the government actually meets the criteria by 2029 is the open question, and the ERM-2 band commitment is the first hard test to watch.