Inflation Update: Consumer Price Index in Hungary Falls to 12.2%
- 11 Oct 2023 12:35 PM
Consumer price inflation in Hungary was an annual 12.2% in September, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Tuesday. Inflation fell for the eighth month in a row after peaking at 25.7% in January. Food prices rose by 15.2% in September, after a 19.5% increase in the previous month.
Household energy prices fell by 14.6%. Gas prices were 33.5% lower and electricity prices declined by 3.2%. Prices in the category of goods that includes vehicle fuel rose by 19.9%.
Motor fuel prices increased by 35.4%. Prices of spirits and tobacco products increased by 12.3% and clothing prices rose by 6.9%.
Service prices increased by 13.6%, picking up from a 13.2% rise in the previous month. Core inflation, which excludes volatile fuel and food prices, was 13.1%.
CPI calculated with a basket of goods and services used by pensioners was 11.6%. Month on month, consumer prices edged up 0.4%.
Commenting on the KSH figures, the economic development ministry hailed “the government’s successful fight” against inflation and predicted that the index may fall to below 10% in November.
According to the ministry’s statement, the central bank had not been up to the task of tackling high inflation “fuelled by the war [in Ukraine], high energy prices and ill-advised sanctions” and “the government took over the task and responsibility” of handling it.
The government introduced its own measures to rein in inflation and reduce it to the single digits before the end of 2023, the statement said, adding that “the targeted measures are proving effective … as indicated by the KSH figures showing a tendency of inflation to shrink over the last eight consecutive months.”
The ministry singled out “an especially good” development in food prices, adding that on an annual basis inflation fell from 44.8% last December to 15.2%.
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