In order to fight against galloping inflation – +7.4% over one year – the Hungarian government is capping the prices of six basic food products from this Tuesday, February 1. Prices will have to return to their level of October 15, 2021. All food businesses will have to display a government press release announcing these measures, and entitled “Stop the prices! “, under penalty of a fine. With the approach of the legislative elections on 3rd April next, the government is increasing its gifts to voters. In the fall, he had already capped fuel prices. The freezing of basic food products is a gift for small pensioners, the hard core of Viktor Orban’s voters.
With our correspondent in Budapest, Florence La Bruyere
Despite the freezing winter, Agota goes shopping in summer shoes. It’s his only pair of shoes. This former engineer has a very small retirement, so she is delighted with the price freeze.
It is completely normal for a government to do that. Look how expensive life is in Western Europe; here we are better off. Free pricing is good for the rich, not for others!
Products such as sugar, chicken breast and carcass, sunflower oil, have their prices capped. But only until May 1, laments Böbe, a retiree who never buys meat. Too expensive for her.
This is misleading: in 3 months, prices will rise again! And it does not concern what is expensive: dairy products, meat, bread…
For Miklos Hargitai, deputy editor of the opposition daily Nepszava, it is a government communication operation, a few weeks before the elections.
This populist measure will no doubt boost people’s morale. But the main problem is not that the prices are high, it’s that the wages are very low!
Although the government has set the minimum wage at 360 euros net, an increase of 20%, Hungary is one of the countries in Europe with the lowest wages.
► Listen again: Record inflation, anger is brewing