Price Freeze On Certain Food In Hungary Extended Until End April
- 15 Dec 2022 8:56 AM
- Hungary Around the Clock
The Ministry of Agriculture announced on Tuesday evening that the government has extended the food price freeze until April 30th 2023.
The announcement came with the government’s standard explanation for interventions in the economy, blaming “the protracted war in Ukraine and the inflation caused by the sanctions due to the failed Brussels measures”.
According to Agriculture Minister István Nagy, the price caps are working, because customers are buying more of the products they can get cheaper.
The ministry said the largest increase, of 81%, can be observed in the case of 2.8% UHT milk, and sales of other products with a price cap have also risen by more than 25% since the price restrictions were introduced in November of 2021.
Flour consumption is up 27%, sunflower cooking oil by 44%, chicken breast 34%, and boneless pork shoulder 46% so far this year compared with the same period of last year.
The food price freeze is popular in government circles, but it brings with it additional problems, Telex observes, as people stockpile the under-priced products, and it is not worth it for stores to keep them in stock, leading to constant shortages, especially of sugar.
Convenience stores are the biggest losers of the measure, the website adds, as more than 2,000 retail units were closed in the first half of the year.
MTI Photo: Zoltán Balogh
XpatLoop Media Partner
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