In Hungary, as of March 17, price controls on food products have come into effect, introduced by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán after inflation reached the highest level in the EU.
Amid rising inflation and uncertain economic recovery prospects, Orbán imposed markup restrictions on 30 categories of food products to keep prices under control.
“If the government sees that retail chains are not following the rules, we will extend them to all food categories! The government is also prepared to reinstate regulated prices as a last resort,” said the Hungarian Ministry of Economy.
Inflation in Hungary was 5.7% in January year-on-year, the highest among EU countries and more than twice the EU average of 2.8%.
Hungarian retail group OKSZ states that the recent measures could reduce food inflation by one or two percentage points, provided there is no further price increase in the supply chain.
