Finally, let me turn to the prospects of meeting the criteria in Hungary and, more specifically, what I think this implies for our euro strategy. Currently, there is no official target date for euro adoption in Hungary. Popular support for the euro is relatively strong, and it probably intensified further after the recent currency turmoil.
All the major political parties agree on the desirability of introducing the common currency. However, at the current juncture, Hungary does not meet any of the Maastricht criteria. Government and Central Bank officials, including myself, repeatedly expressed that the earliest date to start talking about a roadmap to eurozone may be somewhere in 2009.