New excise tax rules to lift vehicle fuel prices

Budapest, September 30 (MTI) – Wholesale vehicle fuel prices in Hungary will rise about 6-13 (EUR 0.02 – 0.04) forints per litre from Saturday, when new rules on excise tax take effect.

The price of petrol will rise by 6.4 forints per litre, bringing the price at the pump to around 340 forints. The price of diesel will increase by 12.7 forints, raising the pump price to around 346 forints, industry insiders told MTI.

In June, lawmakers decided to link the excise tax content of vehicle fuel to global oil prices. If the price of Brent is under 50 dollars per barrel, the content rises, and if it remains over that price threshold, the content is returned to earlier levels. The tax content may change quarterly.

The price of Brent has been under 50 dollars per barrel for most of the third quarter.

The deputy group leader of the opposition Socialist Party criticised the law saying that as a result fuel prices will continue to increase in Hungary whereas they have been falling almost everywhere thanks to a 70 percent drop in global oil prices since 2014.

Sándor Burány told a press conference that when ruling Fidesz was in opposition before 2010, it used to demand the reduction of the excise tax on fuels. But after coming to power in 2010, they enacted an opposite measure, he added. The Socialists will submit a draft law for restating the previous scheme, Burány said.

The leftist opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) said on Friday that it demands from the government to initiate revoking the law.

Source: MTI