Hungary: Inflation comes in at highest level since September 2012 in October
Consumer prices increased 1.10% in October over the previous month, picking up from the 0.20% increase recorded in September. October’s figure was the sharpest increase in prices since July 2020. The sharpest price increases were recorded for food, clothing and footwear and consumer durables.
Inflation came in at 6.5% in October, up from September’s 5.5%. October’s reading represented the highest inflation rate since September 2012. Meanwhile, the trend pointed up, with annual average inflation coming in at 4.3% in October (September: 4.0%). Lastly, core inflation rose to 4.7% in October, from the previous month’s 4.0%.
Commenting on the release, Peter Virovacz, Hungary senior economist at ING, stated:
“The fact that core inflation has now approached 5% suggests that temporary effects are transforming quickly into second-round effects. Based on all this, it is more and more likely that a stronger pace of interest rate increases may be necessary to tackle inflation issues over the monetary policy horizon – a possibility which has already been mentioned by the central bank’s vice governor.”