BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday that he has asked the finance minister and the governor of the central bank to at least halve the inflation rate by the end of next year.
“I have respectfully asked the central bank governor and instructed the finance minister that they should at least halve this inflation by the end of next year,” Orban told state radio, adding that he expected to see single-digit inflation by the end of 2023.
Orban did not give further details, but said the fight against inflation was paramount.
Hungary’s central bank has one of the biggest challenges among central European policymakers to curb inflation after it announced last month that it would end its cycle of sharp rate hikes at a level of 13%.
Inflation jumped to 20.1% in September from 15.6% in August. Core inflation was above expectations at 20.7%.
Since the September rate meeting the forint has slid to record lows versus the euro, facing pressure from the strong dollar, Hungary’s reliance on Russian energy imports, and a rule-of-law row with the European Union that has restricted access to billions of euros of funding.
The central bank will hold a briefing on monetary policy at 0630 GMT on Friday.
(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing by Alex Richardson)
