The IMF, the EU and the Sovereign Borrower: the Case of Hungary 2008-2010
Keywords:
nternational financial institutions, IMF, EU, HungaryAbstract
There have been intensive debates in Hungarian public life on the ways of regaining economic sovereignty and enlarge the room of
manoeuvre of the national government vis-à-vis international financial institutions. The paper addresses the concepts of sovereignty
and of fiscal room of manoeuvre of a (new) EU member state, and the nature of sovereign debtors’ dependence on foreign finance in
the post-2008 financial context. The author concludes that contrary to wide spread beliefs, nation states do have options regarding
relations to supranational and international bodies, yet the preconditions of successful manoeuvring are hard to attain.
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