Hungary aims to cut gas consumption by a quarter this cold season in public institutions and companies, excluding hospitals and social institutions, due to rising energy costs, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff Gergely Gulyas said on Thursday, Reuters reported.
Gulyas also urged consumers to use gas and electricity sparingly, adding that the government will regulate firewood prices to ensure households have access to affordable fuel ahead of the cold season.
“In the next two weeks, ministries must make their plans so that they consume only 75 percent of last year’s level (of gas),” Gulyash said at a weekly briefing.
Gulyas said this could reduce Hungary’s gas consumption by about 200 million cubic meters out of the total 10 billion cubic meters used annually, including 3.5 billion cubic meters consumed by households.
“(Total consumption) will decrease because industry itself will start consuming less, the public sector will be forced to consume less, and households, I think, are also trying to switch to alternative fuels,” said Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Chief of Staff.
The temperature will be limited in government administrative buildings
The temperature for heating in administrative buildings will be limited to 18 degrees Celsius, Gulyas said.
He added that the government is working on a scheme to help energy-intensive small businesses keep jobs.
A sharp rise in energy prices in Europe led to a negative foreign trade balance for Hungary, with a huge deficit of 1.15 billion euros in July, as the growth in import bills far outstripped the growth in exports.
Forint, the weakest development in Central Europe
Volatility in European gas prices is also putting pressure on the forint, Central Europe’s worst-performing currency, due to Hungary’s high dependence on energy imports from Russia and uncertainty over access to funding from the European Union.
Economists at Hungarian Bankholding estimated that Hungary’s worsening terms of trade could lead to a trade account deficit of between 6 billion and 6.5 billion euros this year, from a surplus of 1.6 billion euros last year.
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