Hungary extends price caps on food, fuel till Oct

Budapest, June 17 (IANS) The Hungariand government has decided to extend the caps on fuel and staple food prices until October 1, Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced.

He said that the cap on retail mortgage interest rates, a measure introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic, will remain in place until December 31, reports Xinhua news agency.

On January 12, the government decided to freeze at their October 2021 level the prices of granulated sugar, wheat flour, sunflower oil, pork thighs, chicken breast and 2.8 per cent milk for the period between February 1 and May 1 as a measure to combat inflation.

It also fixed the price of petrol and diesel at 480 Hungarian forints ($1.27) per liter on November 15 last year, and then extended the price cap from February 15 for three months until mid-May.

Then, on April 27, the government decided to keep the measures in place until July 1.

Now this latest deadline has been extended.

According to official figures, the rate of inflation in Hungary was 10.7 per cent in April, well above the 3 per cent target set by the Hungarian National Bank (MNB).

The bank originally forecast a 7.5-9.8 per cent inflation rate for this year.