Budapest mayor outraged because of the government’s latest decision

Budapest must be saved from the impact of a recent government decision to remove central energy subsidies for local councils and businesses, Gergely Karácsony, the capital city’s mayor, said on Facebook on Sunday.

In response to remarks by Márton Nagy, minister of economic development, made in an interview broadcast earlier in the day, Karácsony said the government’s recent measures “are what they look like: brutal austerity”.

“The Orbán government has removed the cap on utility [costs for local councils] in its current form … without any prior consultation or the familiarisation of an impact study,”

Karácsony said.

Contrary to the government’s claim, small companies and municipalities will not manage the impact of being removed from the programme, the mayor said. “Businesses hit by the pandemic, the economic crisis, the war and a labour shortage will only be able to handle this by raising prices, which will further enflame inflation; so the announced measures will affect everyone,” he said.