Margin freeze on around a thousand basic foods comes into effect

According to the regulation that came into effect on Monday, the selling price of the affected products can be a maximum of ten percent higher than the purchase price. For those products on which the profit of traders has been less than 10 percent so far, the prices cannot increase compared to the January level – he explained.

Róbert Zsigó said that the measure was necessary because food prices started to rise again from January, especially for those basic products that households buy the most.

He gave examples, saying that retail chains applied a profit margin of 129 percent to their purchase prices for sour cream, 70-80 percent for yogurt, and 38 percent for eggs, which is excessive and unjustified.

The government asked retail chains to voluntarily reduce prices, but the offers received did not meet the government’s expectations and would not have led to a noticeable reduction in prices, he said.

We will not allow the additional resources that we give to families and pensioners by extending the personal income tax exemption or the 13th month pension to be taken away by the profits of retail chains, the state secretary said.

The margin freeze, which has been extended to businesses with an annual sales revenue of at least one billion forints, will remain in effect until the end of May, but if necessary, the government will maintain the measure after that, he noted.

He stressed that traders who do not comply with the rules can expect severe penalties. The margin freeze could be extended to all food products if traders try to make up for their lost profits on other products, he cited the government’s previous announcement.