No Hungary euro before 2013 on current path-Fidesz

"Hungary has a strong need for introducing the euro, but the realistic chance for that is between 2013 and 2016," Orban was quoted by national news MTI agency as saying at an economic forum in central Hungarian town Kiskoros.

Orban's Fidesz leads the ruling Socialists in opinion polls ahead of an election due in spring 2006 and his comments came after Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany on Tuesday backed away from a firm commitment to adopt the euro in 20010.

Orban was not immediately available to elaborate on his commments, but a Fidesz spokesman, who was present when Orban spoke, told Reuters that the Fidesz president was talking about the impact of the government's repeated budget overshoots and not about Fidesz economic policy.

"He did not say that he wanted euro entry (in 2013 or later)," said Zoltan Csefalvay, Fidesz spokesman for the economic consultation programme.

"He said that based on the current budget situation and based on what has happened in the budget, the euro could not be introduced before that," he added.

"Hungary has approved a convergence programme, but in the past three years it never met its budget goals and the target in next year's budget cannot be met either."

Hungary's government will announce big upward revisions to its 2005 and 2006 budget targets later on Wednesday.

Source: Reuters