With fuel prices at filling stations expected to fall 10–15 forints below the capped level this week, the government decided at Wednesday’s cabinet meeting to propose amendments to the relevant legislation to Parliament and phase out the price cap, the prime minister said on Facebook.
Peter Magyar said the government would maintain the reduction in excise duty, while oil and gas company MOL would continue to apply reduced margins, the Hungarian news agency wrote.
The prime minister said the price cap mechanism had cost Hungarian taxpayers 50 billion forints a month.
“By the way, someone should ask the leaders of Fidesz and their recently laid-off propagandists where the 1,000-forint petrol price is that they used to scare people with before the elections,” Magyar said in the post.
The previous government capped the prices of petrol and diesel at 595 forints and 615 forints per litre, respectively.
Price tracking website holtankoljak.hu put average pump prices at 635 forints (EUR 1.80) per litre for petrol and 655 forints per litre for diesel on Wednesday.
Auchan has already announced that, from today, it will reduce fuel prices at its 19 filling stations to 20 forints below the cap. As a result, 95-octane petrol at Auchan pumps will cost HUF 575 per litre, while diesel will be priced at HUF 595 per litre.
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Friendly country for foreigners. I live here, pay taxes but have Polish car plates. So for me the petrol is 637 Ft.
I take your point and it was discriminative, but, if you live in Hungary you’re supposed to have local plates on your car. In any case, the problem appears to be solved as prices have now fallen below the car so everyone will pay market price, locals and foreigners alike.
After some months it might be required to import and register your car with H plate. There are some rules about residency centre of life and so on.
That said, what you lose in benzin price you gain with polish registration tax and insurance being a fraction of the H price.
Is that the case? I had the impression that Hungarian charges in this regard were already very cheap. They’re a fraction of what one pays in the UK, somewhere between one fifth and one tenth depending on your age. Car insurance in particular in the UK is astronomically expensive. My annual road tax in Hungary was 6000 HUF and insurance was 8000 HUF per quarter, admittedly for a low power car but even so. The same charge in the UK is about 100k HUF annual road tax and the 150k HUF for insurance on the same car even though I’m considered a low risk.