Hungarian government will keep prices in check - Gulyás

The downturn in the car industry is caused by the German economy and partly by shrinking export markets. Chinese competition is growing, while the EU is making the mistake of imposing counter-tariffs on the US, said Gulyás.

However, Hungary will also benefit from Germany's fiscal easing. This is good in the short term, but in the long term we will see if the effects are good.

For the time being, the government is not changing its inflation forecast for this year. Around April-May they will be able to say whether the target is realistic or not. Until then, they will wait to see the effects of the government's recent measures.

"We can't talk about small or big improvements, but the minister will be removed from the sanctions list in the foreseeable future," said Gergely Gulyás.

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added Antal Rogán to its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list (SDN List) in early January.

"This move is the final, petty revenge of the outgoing, failed US ambassador. After 20 January, the United States of America will have a new government and a new President. Once in office, we will take the necessary legal action," the Prime Minister's Office wrote to Telex in response to the situation. 

"This is the personal revenge against Antán Rogán of the ambassador sent to Hungary by the failed US administration, but who left without success and in disgrace," Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó wrote on his Facebook page.

Gulyás said also on 23 January that Rogán could be removed from the list "in the foreseeable future, this year".

In relation to a change in the law that would allow the suspension of Hungarian citizenship for dual nationals, Gulyás was asked who would decide who was a threat to the nation's sovereignty. He replied that there is a functioning system of legislation and if Hungary doesn't want someone to enter the country, they can't enter, and for the time being these rules are permissive, although it may be necessary to change them.

This is clearly a matter for the government and not for the Office for the Protection of Sovereignty.

The exemption applies to all income, not just average income. The exemption will be granted also for existing children.

BACKGROUND: For a number of years, mothers with one child under the age of 30 have been entitled to personal tax exemption, the only form of support where eligibility was limited to the average wage. Next year, this restriction will also be lifted and women with an income above the average (well above the median) will also be fully exempt.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will pay an official visit to Hungary before Easter, the Israeli press reported on Wednesday. Gergely Gulyás has now confirmed that the Israeli Premier will visit Budapest.

The Orbán government has been one of Israel's most consistent and helpful European allies. In addition to vetoing EU resolutions condemning Israel's systematic violations against the Palestinians, its helpfulness is also manifested in important diplomatic gestures such as moving the Hungarian embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv (breaking important European diplomatic conventions) or the demonstrative invitation to Benjamin Netanyahu after the ICC arrest warrant.

In this context, Gulyás said he would support Hungary's withdrawal from the International Criminal Court because it had become a "political organisation". No such decision has been taken yet, he added.

Gulyás did not give any details on the issue of the suspension of citizenship, saying that it was pointless to talk about it until the amendment to the Basic Law had been adopted.

The government welcomes the US efforts for peace and especially for a ceasefire. The Ukrainians have already agreed, but we are still waiting for the Russian position.

The government does not support Ukraine joining the EU before 2030. The government's position is that accession can only be based on merit. Serbia is an example of a country that "the EU is making wait for years" join.

On Ukraine's accession, the government has previously said that a referendum is needed. He promised details for later this week. Gulyás clarified later that the poll will be similar to a national consultation and will likely cost more than HUF 1 billion.

 Hungary insists that Ukraine is not ready to join the EU, while no one claimed it was. In any case, it would take many years for the war-torn country to meet the conditions for accession, yet Viktor Orbán has called for an "expression of opinion vote" to see how Hungarians feel about the neighbours joining the bloc. It's utterly irrelevant.

A couple of 'fun facts' about the government's national consultations:

• There have been 14 such "consultations" since 2010.
• The government announced the results of the latter (on the New Economic Policy) as "one of the most successful" ones, which is not true in practically any sense (see graph below).
• The average response rate of all the national consultations is around 16%.
• The cost of these consultations, excluding the latest for which there are no data yet, is over HUF 61 billion.

You can read more about the national consultations here.

Ceasefire proposal

Russia launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. After more than three years of war, Ukraine has agreed to a U.S. proposal for an immediate ceasefire. The 30-day truce will come into effect if Russia signs up to the same terms, according to a joint statement from the Ukrainian and American governments.

EU lawmakers passed a wide-ranging joint declaration on March 12 condemning the U.S. for "blackmailing" Ukrainian leadership into capitulating to Russia.

Ukraine's Presidential Office announced it was ready to accept Washington's proposal of a 30-day ceasefire, so long as Russia also complies with the terms. When Kyiv agreed to the plan, Washington resumed previously suspended shipments of military aid.

The joint statement "strongly deplores any attempts at blackmailing Ukraine's leadership into surrender to the Russian aggressor for the sole purpose of announcing a so-called 'peace deal.'"

The declaration accuses the U.S. of trying "to negotiate a ceasefire and peace agreement with Russia over the heads of Ukraine and other European states." It also denounces the U.S. for being "counterproductive and dangerous."

Yesterday, the government reviewed the state of play on the profit margin cap to be implemented on 17 March. As the [Russia-Ukraine] war draws to a close, the period of unjustified price rises must come to an end, the government argues.

According to Gergely Gulyás, the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff, traders in the food industry and food chains are making big profits. In some places it is 40-60%, even 100%, but in others it is only 10%. There are big differences, which is why the new government regulation allows a maximum margin of 10%.

If traders want to make up for lost profits on other products, i.e. outside the list of the 30 products where margins were capped, the government will intervene there too, he added.

International examples can be found in Romania, the Baltic States and Macedonia. Croatia has more stringent measures. Gulyás said that if necessary, more drastic measures would be taken, as in Croatia.

The government does not want to start a war with these measures, but they will help bring down inflation, said Gulyás.

Eggs, milk, flour butter, milk, yoghurt. For these products, the government expects a significant price reduction.

According to Gergely Gulyás, if shops were to circumvent the margin cap, more products could be subject to the measure, and ultimately a price cap could be an option.