Planet Orban

摘要

For those wanting to find evidence of the headstrong and self-defeating approach of Hungary's government and especially its prime minister, Viktor Orban, the decision to storm out of talks with the imf in July 2010 was a prime example. So now is this month's u-turn: the reopening of talks with the Washington-based institution on securing a precautionary credit line (a kind of overdraft for solvent but cash-strapped countries). The move came after the Hungarian fo-rint fell to a record low, successive bond auctions failed, and Standard & Poor's, a ratings agency, said it was considering downgrading the country's debt to junk status. The decision to go back to the imf calmed the markets a little. But the effect was muffled by the clumsy way in which it was announced (neither the central bank nor even the imf was consulted first).