Budapest  - The Hungarian forint continued its downward spiral, hitting a new record low of 317.45 against the euro in early trading on Friday.

Although in afternoon trading the currency firmed to around 313 against the euro, this latest dip is worrying news for one of the EU's most fragile economies.

The weakening forint is bad news for ordinary Hungarians, who face increasing monthly repayments on foreign currency mortgages and loans. The forint was trading at around 250 to the euro last summer, before Hungary was hit hard by the global financial crisis.

Budapest - The Hungarian forint fell to a record low of 312 against the euro on Wednesday morning, heightening concern over Hungary's ability to meet its external debt obligations and putting further pressure on Hungarians with foreign currency loans.

Finance Minister Janos Veres sought to dismiss fears that Hungary was on the brink of a sovereign default, saying that its central bank has over 20 billion euros (25 billion dollars) in its foreign currency reserves.

Budapest  - Several thousand mourners gathered in a Hungarian village on Tuesday for the funeral of a Roma father and son who were gunned down the previous week as they fled their burning home.

Csorba Csaba, 27, and his five-year-old son were shot with hunting rifles before dawn on Monday, February 23. It is suspected that the family home in Tatarszentgyorgy, 40 kilometres south-east of the capital Budapest, was first set ablaze with petrol bombs.

Although the motive for and precise details of the attack have not been proven, it is widely assumed to have been racially motivated and the case has become a symbol of rising racial tension surrounding Hungary's Roma minority.

Budapest - Unemployment in Hungary averaged 8.4 per cent in the three months to the end of January, the country's official statistical office reported on Friday.

The figures were released just as the European Union's number- crunching wing Eurostat revealed a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 7.6 per cent in the union as a whole in January.

The number of Hungarians registered as unemployed aged between 15 and 64, the range used for comparisons within the EU, rose by 14,000 from the previous quarter to
350,600.

Budapest  - The Monetary Policy Council of Hungary's central bank announced on Monday morning t

Budapest  - Hungary's Prime Minister vowed on Monday to double power production at his country's sole nuclear power plant, in the wake of January's gas spat between Russia and Ukraine.

Ferenc Gyurcsany cited improving Hungary's energy security situation as he urged lawmakers in the Budapest parliament to back his scheme to expand the plant at Paks, the country's only nuclear reactor, this year.

Analysts said the expansion could only be funded by foreign investors, as the government is currently in dire financial straits.