The Finance Ministry said expenditures on home subsidies and on pensions were higher in January-March (before the elections) than in the same period last year.Continue reading
Utility bill cuts may cost HUF 1,300 billion (EUR 3.4 billion) for the Hungarian state, which comes to HUF 320,000 (EUR 846) per family, according to the calculations of GKI Economic Research Institute.
According to GKI’s calculations, the reduction in fuel bills took HUF 300 billion from the budget in 2021, which this year could rise to HUF 1,300 billion, which means that maintaining the cuts could cost as much as HUF 320,000 per family this year.
Hungary’s public deficit already reached 73 percent of the full-year target by the end of March.
PM Viktor Orbán announced on Wednesday that he would initiate immediate action in the EU to protect the cuts in energy prices. These would include:
Even if the proposals were accepted by the Member States, the price of electricity would not go down significantly, according to GKI’s CEO, who also does not think there was a chance for adoption.
Bioethanol is blended into fuels at a rate of 6-7%. According to the managing director of holtankoljak.hu, a suspension would not make a significant difference in terms of price-reducing. He would rather consider an economic policy involving the strengthening of the forint to be a much more effective measure.
featured image: the Tiszalök Power Station; illustration via Tibor Oláh/MTI