Hungary's government plans to cut household utility rates for the third
time since the start of this year, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said
Friday, state news agency MTI reported.
Mr. Orban didn't say when the lower rate would be introduced.
Already rates are down almost 20% from a year earlier, with companies
providing natural gas and electricity at cost.
The rate cuts are proving popular with voters, political
analysts say. The governing Fidesz party faces parliamentary elections
in the spring.
The cuts have also reduced inflation, which could spur much-needed household spending and boost the economy.
The parliamentary leader of the Fidesz party, Antal Rogan, is
already working on the details of the third cut, Mr. Orban said in a
speech.
"Following two successful utility price cuts, it's worth making the step of a third," he said Friday.
Hungarian utilities are dominated by foreign companies,
including Germany's E.ON SE (EOAN.XE) and RWE.AG (RWE.XE), which will
have to bear the brunt of the cuts. Several companies are considering
pulling out of Hungary because of losses stemming from the price cuts.
Hungary could repurchase RWE's minority stake in Fogaz Zrt., which supplies natural gas
to the capital Budapest, by the end of December, national daily Magyar
Nemzet Monday quoted Fogaz Chief Executive Laszlo Koncz as saying.