The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) has drafted proposals to help families and vulnerable people cope with high inflation, László Varju, the party’s deputy leader, told an online press briefing on Friday, noting that proposals include cutting VAT and excise taxes.
The draft budget for next year submitted to the Fiscal Council sets a stricter deficit target of 3.5% of GDP and the public debt level of 73.8%, Mihály Varga, the finance minister, said on Friday.
Only Hungarian cars may buy fuel at government-capped prices from Friday, cars with foreign number plates will have to pay market prices, the prime minister’s chief of staff told a regular press briefing.
Parties of the opposition have criticised the government for its Wednesday decision to make certain large companies pay a part of their extra profits to a new public utility cut fund and a defence fund. The Democratic Coalition said the government was seeking to make residents pay for its “ill-advised policies and reckless corruption”.
Hungary’s jobless rate was 3.6% in April, unchanged from March, but down from 4.4% in the same month a year earlier, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Thursday.
The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) is calling on the government to start efforts to reduce Hungary’s dependence on Russian energy.
Hungary’s government will require banks, insurers, retail chains, energy companies, telcos and airlines to contribute their “extra profits” to a utilities fund and a defence fund for a period of two years, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a video message on Facebook on Wednesday.
The average gross wage in Hungary climbed an annual 17.5% to 511,400 forints (EUR 1,338) in March, data released by the Central Statistical Office (KSH) on Tuesday show.
The opposition DK party has criticised the government for not preventing the exports of Hungarian grain despite having pre-emption rights to buy it.
There were 1.6 billion cubic metres of gas in Hungary’s underground stores, just over 25% of capacity, by mid-May, the Hungarian Energy and Public Utilities Regulatory Office (MEKH) said on Monday.
