Bold ideas: Will the ‘Orbán inflation’ be a Hungarikum?
According to a statement issued by the Democratic Coalition on Saturday, the opposition party is asking the Hungarikum Commission to make the ‘Orbán inflation’ a Hungarikum.
In the party’s view, it has now been proven that the government lied to the Hungarian people: there is neither war inflation nor sanction inflation, in fact it is Orbán’s inflation that is driving up prices. Their statement stresses that the inflation rate of over 25 percent in March is completely unique in Europe, three times the European average.
They added: “Whenever Hungary is discussed in any part of the world today, it is not in connection with pálinka, Tokaj aszú or Makó onions, but with the completely unique Orbán inflation. It will be the first and only Hungarikum that no country will want to import,” rtl.hu quotes the party as saying.
The Democratic Coalition recalled that the price of most basic foodstuffs in Hungary has doubled in the last two years, a price increase unmatched anywhere else in the world.
According to DK, there is only one way to curb the Orbán inflation: eliminate the cause, the Orbán regime.
Energy minister: Utility price caps to be maintained till year-end
The government will maintain its retail utility price caps for the whole year, the energy minister said in a video published on Facebook on Monday.
Csaba Lantos said the country would “certainly have sufficient gas” for the next heating season. He added that gas reserves were still high after a mild winter and secure supplies are supported by effective contracts.
On another subject, the minister said Hungary needed nuclear energy, an “energy source with zero carbon dioxide emission”, which could help Hungary meet its climate policy goals.
He said the primary factor behind Hungary’s growth was solar energy, with a total solar plant capacity of over 4,500 MW, which equals two-thirds of the country’s average consumption. He also added that “there will be, again, wind-powered generations, if not too many, because we need that alternative, too”.
The minister added, however, that the domestic extraction of fossil fuels could be “somewhat increased” to contribute to Hungary’s energy independence.