The government has extended the price caps until June 30, the minister in charge of the Prime Minister’s Office announced on Thursday in Budapest, on the Government Information.
Gergely Gulyás said: the Russian-Ukrainian war has serious economic effects all over the world, and inflation records have been broken.
As long as there is war and sanctions, there will be inflation, he said, reminding that the government’s goal is to have single-digit inflation in Hungary by the end of the year, and many factors must contribute to this.
The minister also indicated that they are monitoring the price policy of large food chains.
Gergely Gulyás welcomed the statement of the vice-president of the central bank that the Monetary Council can decide next week to reduce the upper edge of the interest rate corridor.
The government wants to mitigate the damage to farmers due to last year’s drought, so agricultural irrigation will be free this year, said the minister in charge of the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday.
Gergely Gulyás announced that the government will cover the costs of irrigation.
The minister also reported that the government ordered a ban on the import of twenty-five products from Ukraine – including rapeseed, sunflower seeds, flour, cooking oil, and some types of meat – until June 30. Products imported from other countries were made mandatory to report to the electronic goods traffic control system. Transit deliveries are still possible.
He reminded: even the European Commission argued that the Ukrainian grain should get out of Ukraine in order to help Africa, in comparison it destroys the Hungarian agricultural market. It seems that Brussels is also willing to accept a concrete proposal to deal with market difficulties, he noted.
The Hungarian government is unwaveringly on the side of peace – the minister who heads the Prime Minister’s Office declared on Thursday in Budapest, in the Government Information. Gergely Gulyás said that it is in the interest of the whole world that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) should not get involved in the Russian-Ukrainian war because then it would turn into a world war and lead to a nuclear war.
The minister said that hundreds of thousands died in the war and that they see more and more weapons being brought to the front on both sides, which predicts that the war may drag on for an unforeseeable time.
Gergely Gulyás said that steps that escalate the conflict, prolong the war, and promote the involvement of both Western and Eastern countries are irresponsible because they entail the risk of nuclear war.
He stated that the Hungarian government is unwaveringly on the side of peace, does not transport weapons and has not allowed weapons to be shipped to the warring parties in the territory of the country, and will not change this.
The government has decided to reduce the electricity price for micro-enterprises above the average consumption from HUF 165 to HUF 70 per kilowatt hour, the minister in charge of the Prime Minister’s Office announced on Thursday in Government Information.
Gergely Gulyás said: in the case of micro-enterprises previously entitled to universal service, the government has enforced a discounted tariff up to the average consumer, however, these companies paid HUF 165 per kilowatt hour above that. This will now be reduced to HUF 70/kilowatt hour, the same as the residential market price.
The reduction is a major help for micro-enterprises employing no more than 10 people and with a turnover of no more than 2 million euros, the measure significantly promotes the functioning of the economy and the profitability of small businesses, the minister emphasized.
MTI
