An unexpected decision on domestic fuel prices has been made, according to a recent report by Holtankojak.hu. The year is off to a good start in terms of fuel prices and from Friday, the wholesale price of diesel will fall by 10 forints gross.
The purchase price of petrol will remain unchanged this week. It is worth recalling that retail prices have diverged significantly from wholesale prices in the recent past, therefore it is difficult to say for sure what prices motorists can expect to see from the last workday of the week.
In any case, the average price of a liter of 95 petrol is currently HUF 562 (EUR 1.47) and the price of diesel is HUF 599 (EUR 1.57). If this is taken as the basis with the price of petrol stagnating,
On paper, there is every chance of this happening, as András Orosz, MOL’s retail director in Hungary, recently stressed that if macroeconomic conditions bring price changes in the wholesale market, the retail market will follow.
We will find out on Friday whether this is the case, but the 10 forint cut in diesel prices is a pleasant surprise. One might have expected a rise of a few forints, if not a significant one. The reasons for this is that neither the Brent price per barrel nor the forint-dollar exchange rate movements (not to mention the situation in the Middle East) pointed in the direction of a price fall.
If only because it means that the initial increase of 20 forints per liter from January due to the change in excise duty will not hurt so much. If the 10-forint cut just announced is reflected at the pumps, diesel users will only have to swallow a 10-forint increase overall.
However, it is true that in mid-January there will be a further increase of 21 forints, the second round of excise duty increases.
However, until then, wholesale prices will change twice more, on Monday and Wednesday next week, hence in a very optimistic scenario it is still possible that macroeconomic developments will lead to a sustained price cut, and the mid-January price increase will not be demanding for consumers.
