Life becoming very expensive in Hungary, Hungarians pessimistic

Hungarians are becoming more pessimistic regarding the inflation hitting the country hard in the last few months. Based on a survey of the GKI, Hungarian citizens’ inflation expectations were only worse in 2007 than in this September. That is not surprising. Recent news state that we should expect an approximately 60 percent rise in poultry prices, while, in the case, of salt, that rate could be 200 percent.

Hungarians are pessimistic

Based on a recent survey of the GKI, an economic research institute, Hungarians expect that the worst is yet to come regarding inflation. That is because the Hungarian forint is still struggling, so the import is becoming more expensive. Furthermore, the companies started to include the government’s so-called extra profit taxes in their consumer prices. Moreover, the Orbán administration doubled electricity prices and increased gas prices sevenfold, which is also a considerable burden on every sector of the economy, portfolio.hu wrote.

In August, the average inflation in Hungary was 15.6 percent but is expected to increase to 18-20 percent in the coming months. Nobody knows what the future holds in that respect, but it is bad news that companies started to give extra pay rises to their employees to tackle the skyrocketing prices. The result may be a wage-price spiral increasing inflation further. However, the approaching recession may reduce the companies’ margin for manoeuvre.

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Poultry may become a luxury in Hungary soon

According to RTL Klub, the increase in poultry prices may break a record in Hungary. Sellers complain that purchase in shops has been decreasing for months. A woman told RTL that she could not buy a lot of products. A middle-aged man added he has to stand and do some calculations in front of the counter for half an hour to decide what to buy.

One of the favourite dishes of the Hungarians around St Martin’s Day is the roast goose. Ákos Szabó, the CEO of Tranzit-Food Ltd, said it would cost 100 percent more than last year. Poultry is expensive because fodder prices rise and bird flu decimated the stock in Europe. He said the prices might stabilise by next spring. Until then, they expect a 61 percent rise in the cost of drumstick, 57 percent in the case of chicken carcass and 50 percent for chicken wings.

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Salt prices skyrocket, and there may come a shortage

Index.hu wrote that the price of the table salt mined in Parajd (Praid, Transylvania, Romania), which is the main source of Hungary’s imports went up by 175 percent between 2018 and 2022. The Hungarian Central Statistical Office said that the average price rise of table salts in Hungary was 171 percent in the last four years.

Since salt is important not only in food but also in the pharmaceutical industry. Therefore, it is imperative to maintain production and satisfy demands. The salt mine in Parajd has enough stock for hundreds of years. However, that does not mean that there would not be temporary shortages in Hungary of salt. Index.hu says the price of salt will continue to increase in Hungary in the coming months.