According to Márton Nagy, the price of the affected foods decreased by an average of 16 percent as a result of the margin freeze

Minister of National Economy Márton Nagy at a press conference in Budapest on the margin freeze introduced the previous day on March 18, 2025. MTI/Péter Lakatos

The minister said: the average decrease of 16 percent exceeds the government’s expectations, and since there are still price increases, the price decrease could be even greater. Based on initial experiences, the intervention has been successful, he stated.

The prices are compared to the data from March 13. The prices of some milks, yogurts, sour cream, cottage cheese and fats have decreased the most, by more than 50 percent, he indicated.

On Tuesday evening, the Ministry of National Economy (NGM) will hold talks with suppliers, who are also being asked to voluntarily agree to fix their prices. If they do not do this, they will also use a regulatory tool – said Márton Nagy. He added: if suppliers do not raise prices, there will only be a price decrease in the following period.

The minister explained: out of 1,000 products, prices decreased for about 760, while there was no price decrease for 160, which is possible if the margin was below 10 percent.

A small price increase was experienced in about 70 cases. When examining this, two reasons were found: firstly, a data error, and secondly, that on March 13, there was a sale on some products, and the price increased after it ended – he pointed out.