No Cents for Hungary

People have been asking me for years when Hungary will join the Euro Zone and are flummoxed by the fact they have not yet. Of course, these are all tourists who are asking, because they are still cautious about handing over a 5,000 forint bill and barely getting any change back. All of those zeros can be alarming. I remember when Italy had lira. There were so many zeros on some of the bills; they had to add an addendum to it.

Well the Budapest Times had an enlightening article concerning Hungary and the Euro. It has never been an issue of desire, but a need to meet all of the required Maastricht criteria, the treaty that sets the rules for the Euro. "Orbán admitted that the country will not be able to meet the criteria of a 3% debt threshold until the next decade. This is a requirement that must be maintained for 2 years to be eligible for joining the Euro zone.

Tourists you need to bring your calculators or print out a currency cheat sheet here.

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No Swarm to Pad Apple Distributors

It has been reported that the Apple iPads have finally found their way to Hungary. It seems they would have been here soon, had they been equipped with GPS, because being man-made, they refused to stop to ask for directions.


They did also point out that the iPad would have been shipped earlier, but they had immense difficulties in teaching them Hungarian. Yes, these are in Hungarian, so there will be no swarm of British, North American or other English speaking ex-pats running for the Apple orchard. Then again, the Irish ex-pats may want one to check their finances. The numbers look far greater in forints than in Euros.


Licensed Apple distributors are hoping they can find a market for this product since they are prices at 148,000 Ft ($689 or  €532) and 238,000 Ft ($1,108 to €856). 

Related articles

• Kinnect Gets Faster Start Than Apple's iPad (blogs.forbes.com)
• The iPad: A Dubious Bet For Publishers (forbes.com)

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