Hungarian Conservative

The Hungarian price monitoring system, which will possibly be purchased by the Slovak government, is an online database developed by the government and the Hungarian Competition Authority. The system provides consumers with information on the selling prices of individual products.

Speaking at the opening of an MVM customer service office in Nagykáta, Pest County, Zsófia Koncz emphasized that since 2013, the government has considered keeping the utility cost reduction programme in place a top priority.

Despite the sanctions and the war driving up energy prices, the Hungarian measures to combat inflation and price increases are undeniably working. While EU countries scramble to look for new avenues to import electricity and gas, the Hungarian plans and contracts have managed to keep energy prices at affordable levels for citizens.

For the government, the successful fight against inflation is a key issue as it aims to restore the previous trend of continuous wage growth, disrupted by the protracted war and the misguided sanctions.

Government spokesperson Alexandra Szentkirályi noted on public radio that inflation decreased to 17.6 per cent in July, representing a 2.5 per cent decrease compared to the previous month, and a 0.9 per cent decrease in food prices. On an annual basis, the combined effect of multiple government measures has practically cut the inflation of food prices in half, she stressed.

According to the ministry’s statement issued on 4 August, in July the average prices of products in 62 product categories decreased by an average of 7.7 per cent. This reduction was a result of price decreases in 53 product categories within one month. The decrease in food prices had a 0.7 percentage point impact on reducing inflation and a two percentage point impact on reducing food inflation according to the weighting of the shopping basket used by the Central Statistical Office.

To further intensify price competition, the government decided to raise the level of mandatory discounts from ten per cent to at least 15 per cent starting today.

Minister Gulyás announced that the maximum amount of the childbirth incentive loan (Babaváró hitel) will increase to 11 million forints. This change will come into effect in 2024 and will apply to couples where the woman is under 30 years old. also announced that the food price caps will be extended for one more month, but they will be phased out as of August as they have fulfilled their purpose. Forecasts indicate that inflation is decreasing. At the same time, food retailers mandatory discounts will be increased from 10 to 15 per cent.

Starting from today, the mandatory discount programme has been launched in grocery stores all over the country to make sure Hungarian families have access to basic foodstuffs at affordable prices.

Alexandra Szentkirályi reiterated that Hungary still does not and will not ship weapons to Ukraine nor will it allow other countries to ship weapons through its territory.

After reviewing the energy situation at the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the government determined that all necessary resources are at its disposal to keep in place the utility cost reduction programme for households with average energy consumption.

The Finnish energy consultancy company VaasaETT recently issued a report that shows Hungarian utility costs to be the lowest in the entire EU.

MOL Chairman Hernádi added that he expects the lifting of the price cap to have an almost instant effect, with consumers seeing stability of supply return in a month.

The government decided to extend price caps to shield people from the negative impact of the war in Ukraine and of the sanctions imposed on Russia, the minister in charge of the Prime Minister’s Office announced on Saturday.