Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has renewed his battle against multinational corporations by imposing price caps on staple foods sold in shops in an attempt to quell public outrage over skyrocketing inflation.
According to economists, the plan might aid consumers in the near run, but it won’t help many people in rural areas who live far from larger towns with big-box stores.
“Small stores are not affected, only big multinationals, and we don’t go there,” said retiree Erzsebet Risztics, 68, who lives in Tiszaroff, a village in one of the Central European country’s poorest regions.
Due to limited bus services, Risztics, who has diabetes, is unable to purchase the low-sugar foods she requires “because they’ve gotten terribly expensive.” She is also unable to buy in other towns.
“It hurts that the village is left out” of the pricing limitations, claimed Erzsebet Forgo, an 80-year-old retiree.
Hungary’s inflation rate has risen sharply, hitting 5.7 percent in February—the highest in the 27-nation EU. In contrast, the average increase in consumer prices throughout the EU was 2.7%.
In mid-March, Orban, who faces elections next year, introduced a measure capping supermarket markups on 30 basic food items at 10 percent above wholesale costs.
The measure — which includes foods like eggs, milk, and meats — exempts retailers with smaller annual revenues, de facto sparing local grocers.
