Faced with the continuing rapid increase in fuel prices, Hungary may be forced to freeze the price of automotive fuels, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in Hungarian Parliament on Monday.
Answering a question by an MP of the far right Jobbik party, Orbán said that, “Hungary already has a pricing system in place which reduces excise duty in the case of higher prices.” In Hungary, the production cost and the gas industry’s profit margin together only account for 40 percent of fuel prices, with the remaining 60 percent consisting of various taxes from VAT to storage fees.
Orbán added that while most countries only use fuel price caps as a temporary measure, he did not exclude that this will happen in Hungary as well.
“There could come a situation when we will move towards freezing gas prices,” Orbán said.
Shadowing the steep rise of crude prices, gas in Hungary now retails at an average 512 forints (€1.4), almost twice as high as it was last spring, when an economic shutdown prompted a sharp drop.
Europe is currently facing a steep rise in energy prices, leaving governments racing to find a solution to drive down prices as winter fast approaches.
