BUDAPEST, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday that he has asked the central bank governor and finance minister to halve inflation in the country by the end of next year.
Orban said this during an interview with Kossuth Radio.
Driven mostly by skyrocketing energy prices, Hungary's annual inflation rate climbed from 15.6 percent in August to 20.1 percent in September, a level unseen since October 1996, according to the latest official figures published on Tuesday.
Orban said that the current inflation is a result of sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) on Russia, which would not have been so serious had the "EU bureaucrats" been more careful.
"Hungary examines each Brussels sanction by the letter, and if they would hurt Hungary, we launch an attack to make sure it does not extend to a territory that is harmful to us," he said.
Orban said his government has been successful so far and Hungary has been exempted from any sanction that could have a bad effect on its energy market.
The final solution would depend on whether the EU would abandon its sanctions, he said.
Orban was confident that his government will be able to overcome inflation, backed by its experience in fighting a 10-15 percent inflation in 1998.
In its latest inflation report released at the end of September, the Hungarian Central Bank MNB forecasted an inflation rate of 13.5-14.5 percent for this year and 11.5-14 percent for 2023. ■