Fuel and food price freeze remains in place
The government has extended the fuel price cap and food price freeze, which are now due to expire.
Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office Gergely Gulyás, Minister of Economic Development Márton Nagy, and government spokesperson Alexandra Szentkirályi held an extraordinary Cabinet briefing on Saturday at the Prime Minister’s Office in the Carmelite Monastery.
The war and the European Union’s sanctions policy have led to a drastic increase in energy prices in Europe, which in turn has led to a sharp rise in inflation. As long as the sanctions are in force, there does not seem to be any realistic chance of the situation improving. For this reason, the government is extending the expiring fuel price cap and food price cap. In addition, it has already been decided to extend the interest rate freeze, which expires in December, for at least another six months, Gulyás said.
A program worth tens of billions of forints to renovate hospitals in the capital has temporarily fallen victim to the investment freeze, Gulyás said in response to a journalist’s question. He stressed, however, that in the long term, they have not abandoned the project and will restart it when the investment freeze ends.
He said they were looking into how the government could help local governments. Primary schools could be heated to 20 degrees Celsius this winter, the minister said, adding that an 18-degree limit would only be introduced in secondary schools.
Minister of Economic Development Nagy announced extraordinary support for energy-intensive small and medium-sized enterprises, adding that a factory rescue program is also being prepared to help large industrial companies.
