AM State Secretary: the government is spending HUF 750 billion in EU funds for the development of the food industry

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Márton Nobilis added at the meeting of the National Economic and Social Council (NGTT) that they would like to spend this HUF 750 billion so that the country can be self-sufficient. According to the state secretary, the issue of energy will be one of the most important in the industry in the coming years. Therefore, the goal is to use renewable energy and digitalization as a basis for development. The latter is important because the country can be competitive by using modern techniques. Márton Nobilis also addressed the situation in Ukraine, as this country has as much agricultural land as the whole of Europe. In Ukraine, however, they use different plant protection products and different technology than what is expected in the EU. Thus, due to its size and technology, Ukraine may have a competitive advantage “over us, and they can produce certain products cheaper than us,” he said. According to the state secretary, basic products are produced cheaper in Ukraine, but finished products and processed products are not. Therefore, Hungary must gain a competitive advantage by “moving towards the best quality products”.

Speaking about the Hungarian inflation situation, Márton Nobilis said that the government’s goal is to have single-digit inflation in the country by the end of the year

According to his political opponents, this is something that happens by itself, but according to the state secretary, the government must work to achieve the goal. The government is responsible for Hungarian families, said the state secretary, recalling at the same time: in 2010, families spent almost 50 percent of their budget on food purchases, and this was reduced to around 30 percent by 2018. However, inflation kicked all of this up, and the government tried to help, which is why they introduced the price cap, and then decided on the mandatory promotion starting on June 1. According to the state secretary, this is also social assistance for those groups who find it very difficult to buy food.

According to the vice president of NAK, this is why food inflation has become high

After the state secretary’s presentation, Tamás Éder, representing the economic side of the NGTT, as the national vice-president responsible for the food industry of the National Chamber of Agrarian Economy, spoke about how Hungary became the leader in the region in terms of food inflation. According to his assessment, the price explosion affecting agricultural crops and energy carriers that took place everywhere in Hungary was also influenced by state measures and the drastic weakening of the forint last year. In response to a question, the State Secretary said that they expect inflation to slow down significantly from September, but this does not mean, in his opinion, that they want to keep the price ceiling up at all costs until then. He added that they are constantly monitoring the market. According to the presentation published on the spot, the NGTT is a wide-ranging consultation forum, proposal and advisory body independent of the government and the Parliament. The NGTT consists of representatives from six areas of society – economic, labor, civil, scientific, religious, and artistic.

MTI