Inflation eases to 25.2 percent in March

Month on month, headline inflation was 0.8 percent.

Annual food-price inflation was 42.6 percent in March, while household energy prices rose by 43.1 percent.

Prices in the category of goods that includes vehicle fuel increased by 23.3 percent, while the prices of spirits and tobacco products grew by 19.7 percent.

Harmonised CPI, adjusted for better comparison with other European Union member states, was 25.6 percent.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile fuel and food prices, was 25.7 percent.

CPI calculated with a basket of goods and services used by pensioners was 26.7 percent.

Economic Development Minister: Data in line with expectations

Hungarian March inflation data accord with the government’s expectations, having peaked in January before falling, Marton Nagy, the minister of economic development has said.

Headline inflation was 25.7 percent in January, 25.4 percent in February, and 25.2 percent in March, Nagy told business daily Vilaggazdasag on Wednesday. “So the improvement, while moderate, is constant and conforms to a trend,” he said.

Among the government’s goals are the priorities of preventing a recession this year and reducing inflation to single digits by year-end, he added.

Nagy said supermarkets were starting to compete on price-cutting, and this was filtering through to the data, noting that in December, food prices grew by 44.8 percent year on year before gradually falling to 42.6 percent by March.

The minister noted 20 government measures to control prices and protect the economy, with caps on interest rates paid on loans and food prices, cheap business loans and support for energy-intensive businesses, among others.

“The measures are working, their effect will be more and more visible…” he said.

The government is establishing an online price monitoring system together with the country’s Competition Office, he noted.