Economy of Hungary account transactions, and subsequent to OECD membership in 1996, for almost all capital account transactions as well. Since 1995, Hungary has pegged the forint against a basket of currencies (in which the U.S. dollar is 30%), and the central rate against the basket is devalued at a preannounced rate, originally set at 0.8% per month, the Forint is now an entirely free-floating currency. The government privatization program ended on schedule in 1998: 80% of GDP is now produced by the private sector, and foreign owners control 70% of financial institutions, 66% of industry, 90% of telecommunications, and 50% of the
British currency in the Middle East British West Indies. East Africa and the Middle East were late additions to the British Empire, and by then, the British government had already learned from experience in Canada, India and Hong Kong that it is highly impractical to impose a new currency in the place of already existing practices. In the history of Britain's involvement in the Middle East region, the sterling coinage never formed a part of the circulating currency. The sterling unit of account, however, entered the region through Palestine in 1927, in the form of the Palestine pound. The Palestine pound was introduced into Palestine in