Orbán: Supermarket chains in Hungary have one week to cut prices

The prime minister said it was “good news” that talks with supermarket chains on reducing profit margins were advancing, but added that the progress was not fast enough.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said supermarket chains in Hungary have one week to cut prices if they want to avoid price regulation.

In an interview with public radio on Friday, PM Orbán said it was “good news” that talks with supermarket chains on reducing profit margins were advancing, but added that the progress was not fast enough.

He acknowledged that some supermarket chains had started to reduce the prices of staples specified by the government, but said that was too little and that the national economy minister needed to continue working on the matter.

“I would like to avoid intervention with regulatory means affecting prices or retailers’ profits. Neither does any good for the economy in the long term, but we’ll be forced to carry through if everybody doesn’t reduce prices,” he added.

Prices don’t rise, they are raised, and those who raise prices need to see there is a threshold that may not be crossed, PM Orbán said.