The National Trade Association recommends the elimination of margin squeeze

According to a statement sent to MTI by the association on Tuesday, the measure will only suppress inflation in the short term, while causing irreversible damage to the national economy.

The OKSZ explained that the goal of margin reduction is theoretically to reduce inflation, but in practice it means an intervention in pricing that reduces the profits of the affected traders or further increases the losses they have suffered so far, thereby endangering their operations. If traders are unprofitable, they cannot invest or develop, and even their survival becomes uncertain.

“The extension and expansion of the margin freeze is completely contrary to the operating logic of the market economy and will destroy the operation of domestic retail for many years, which will ultimately be borne by Hungarian families and pensioners,”

– the association stated.

According to the OKSZ, the food margin freeze will not serve to reduce inflation in the long term, but the inclusion of household and cleaning products is not justified in the short term either.

The price increase registered in this product group over the past year has been minimal, and household products are currently pulling inflation down. The weight of this product group in the consumer basket is 2-3 percent, compared to 25-30 percent for food, which is why even a significant price decrease will not have a significant impact on inflation, they pointed out.

Unlike food, the brands distributed in this product group are predominantly owned by global multinational companies; While in the case of food, retail engages in dialogue with mostly domestic suppliers, the opportunities for this are limited in this product range, they added.
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