Hungary's food price caps come into force with a message

Shops are mandated to display a notice telling consumers the government is to be thanked for the moratorium

Today, the Hungarian government's price caps on essential food items enter into force. The price caps were prompted by the increased costs of fuel and energy. That means that retail items will be reverted back to their mid-October price levels.

Dear Consumers! The government has decided to introduce a price freeze

The decision to introduce the price freezes came on 12 January focusing on basic food products. It includes sugar, wheat flour, sunflower cooking oil, pork legs, chicken breast and semi-skimmed cow milk.

Caption: Stop! Dear customers!
Source: The Hungarian Government's website

Furthermore, stores are required to display a sign, announcing the price freeze. The sign reads: “Dear customers! The government has decided to introduce a price freeze for basic foodstuffs. Accordingly, the prices of the affected products must be set so that they do not exceed those of 15 October 2021. The price freeze will apply from 1 February to 1 May 2022.”

The sign will be mandatory for all retail locations, as well as shipping companies. The ‘Stop’ logo must be clearly visible and violators would be subject to a fine.

Making yourself known

With the run-up to the parliamentary elections in Hungary in April 2022, and a plethora of crises across the European Union, the ruling Fidesz–KDNP is ramping up their activity and their ‘gifts’ or households.

As Hungary today reports, this is not the first time the Hungarian government has mandated their price reductions in favour of ordinary people be explicitly stated. Since the introduction of an ancillary cost reduction, energy suppliers have had to display the reduced amount directly on the bill.

Similarly, banks are mandated to hand out information texts about a government moratorium, easing debt payments on overdraft and retail credit card loans.

The logo also bears similar design features to the ‘Stop Soros’ government campaign from 2018.