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9th October, 2025
Inflation stabilises at 4.3%
Inflation remained at 4.3% year-on-year in September, the same level as in August, the Central Statistics Office announced on Wednesday.
The 4.3% figure was slightly below the average forecast among analysts of 4.4%, Portfolio notes.
Among the largest increases in food prices, margarine cost 29% more, the price of chocolate soared by 19.2%, the price of eggs rose by 18.2%, coffee was 17.6% more expensive than a year ago and the price of bakery products went up by 13.1%.
Household energy became 10.6% more expensive, including a 23.4% increase for pipeline gas and a 2.3% rise for electricity.
Fuel prices alone dropped by 0.3%.
Core inflation – which excludes energy and seasonal foods – was unchanged from August at 3.9% year-on-year.
Pensioners inflation was also 4.3% year-on-year in September, but dropped by 0.1% from the previous month.
Over the first nine months, the average inflation was 4.6%.
Analyst Gabor Regos of Granit Fund Manager noted that “unusually, several product groups recorded monthly price declines, with food prices falling 0.2% from August.”
Year-on-year, food inflation eased from 5.9% to 4.7%, a slowdown Regos described as “particularly surprising given this year’s poor harvest.” He added that the forint’s strengthening probably contributed to the more favourable figures. (ksh.hu; portfolio.hu; telex.hu; index.hu; mfor.hu; 444.hu)
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9th October, 2025
MNB top inflation indicator at 3.6%
Tax-free core inflation, the figure most watched by MNB policymakers, stayed stable at 3.6% in September, the central bank announced after the Central Statistics Office released its inflation data on Wednesday.
Inflation for sticky price products – products resistant to price changes – rose to 5.1%, while core inflation, excluding processed foods, rose to 4.2%.
Government-imposed price ceilings and price margin caps continued to have an inflation-reducing effect of approximately 1.5 percentage points, the MNB said in its new estimate.
The MNB also introduced a new core indicator: the combined inflation of industrial goods and market services, calculated without price restrictions, was 5.2%, which represented an increase compared to August. (mnb.hu; portfolio.hu)
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9th October, 2025
Budget deficit unusually high
The budget deficit was Ft 303 billion in September, reversing the Ft 234 billion surplus of one year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Economy Ministry.
The ministry noted that the figure was “unusually high,” as the third-largest deficit on record for September.
The deterioration was mainly attributed to higher expenditures on public utility support, including subsidies for household energy and utility consumption, which were disbursed at a different pace than last year.
The cumulative shortfall for the year to date reached Ft 3.3 trillion, or 69% of the revised full-year cash-flow target of Ft 4.8 trillion, but below the time-proportional level of 75%.
Revenues from taxes and contributions rose by 8.1% compared with the same period last year, led by a 9% increase in consumption-related taxes.
Interest payments totalled Ft 3.1 trillion by the end of September, a rise of Ft 489.8 billion year-on-year.
The rolling 12-month deficit stood at Ft 4.8 trillion at the end of September, its highest level since March 2024. (portfolio.hu; 444.hu; economx.hu; novekedes.hu; telex.hu)
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9th October, 2025
Govt plans green investment incentives
The government will overhaul its investment incentive system to accelerate environmentally friendly projects, Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto announced on Wednesday.
He noted that, under a new European Commission rule, investment support of up to euro 350 million for clean industrial and zero-emission projects no longer requires prior EU approval.
“This means that the government can make decisions much faster, and we no longer have to wait a year or more for Brussels’s authorisation,” he said, calling the change a major advantage over non-EU rivals.
The research and development incentives will be available to firms employing as little as 50 people, provided they create 10 new R&D jobs, fewer than before.
In addition, spending on R&D for projects involving co-operation with domestic universities or healthcare institutions, may account for 75% of costs, up from 50%. (portfolio.hu; hirado.hu)
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9th October, 2025
Foreign ownership of public debt rises
Households’ share of Hungary’s public debt fell to 25% by the end of August, from 28% at the start of the year, according to the latest data from the MNB.
Banks held 23.9% of the total, a marginal decline from 24.1% in December.
In contrast, foreign ownership rose markedly, reaching 32.9% by the end of August – the highest level in a year and a half. The increase reflects the government’s heavy summer issuance of foreign-currency bonds. (portfolio.hu)
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