Hungary has extended fuel and staple food price caps for three months until the end of the year in an effort to protect households from rising costs, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff said at a briefing on Saturday, News.ro reported, citing Reuters.

Budapest has sharply criticized the European Union for imposing sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, saying they have failed to significantly weaken Moscow, causing food and energy prices to rise.

Coupled with the depreciation of the forint to record lows, rising prices pushed inflation to a two-decade high in Hungary, prompting the Hungarian National Bank to suddenly raise its key rate to 11.75%.

Announcing the extension of the price cap beyond an initial deadline of Oct. 1, Prime Minister Orbán’s chief of staff, Gergeli Gulias, also said the government would also extend the cap on mortgage interest rates, which was set to expire at the end of this year, “by at least six.” months”.

“We now assess that as long as the EU sanctions are in place, there is no real chance of improvement,” Goulias told a briefing.

Economic Development Minister Marton Nagy said Orbán’s government has also decided to launch a support program for small businesses that are big energy consumers, covering half of the increase in electricity bills compared to last year.

He said the government would also launch an investment support scheme for small businesses to help them improve energy efficiency and reduce costs.