The interest rate freeze is also being expanded to apply to non-state subsidised mortgage loan contracts with an interest rate fixed for a maximum period of five years, Márton Nagy said.

The measure will now protect 350,000 families from having to pay a “sanctions interest surcharge”, Nagy said. It will save families 80 billion forints (EUR 191.3m) this year and more than 60 billion in 2023, he added.

This means that the rate freeze will save an average family 282,000 forints in 2022 and 174,000 forints in the first half of 2023, Nagy said.

Without the measure, accelerated rate rises would have increased an average family’s monthly instalments by 55%, he added. The flawed sanctions policy and inflation fuelled by the sanctions have led to a drastic increase in interest rates, so the government must continue introducing extraordinary and significant measures to protect families, the minister said.

The government will continue to explore ways to protect the security of Hungarians and the competitiveness of the Hungarian economy, he added.