The Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) and the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) are jointly investigating how the significant strengthening of the forint in recent months is reflected in consumer prices in Hungary, especially for imported products and food items.

The GVH is considering the application of competition law tools, which may include initiating a rapid sectoral investigation to assess sector-specific issues from a competition perspective or even launching competition supervision proceedings against relevant market players.

During a meeting on December 8, 2025, GVH President Csaba Balázs Rigó emphasized the authority's commitment to supporting economic processes that enhance growth. The GVH has already intervened in several areas to curb inflation and aims to take decisive action against market players whose behavior violates competition law and fuels inflationary processes.

The central topic of the meeting was the recent significant strengthening of the forint against the euro and the dollar. Both parties agreed on the economic and social goal of encouraging retailers to reduce consumer prices for imported products as a positive effect of the forint's strengthening.

The GVH has recently begun mapping the pricing practices of importers, focusing on how quickly and effectively retailers implement exchange rate changes in consumer prices following the forint's appreciation. The authority aims to uncover the competition law reasons behind pricing anomalies and intervene in market processes if there are suspicions of anti-competitive or restrictive behavior.

The GVH also calls on affected market players and industry professional organizations to fully comply with relevant competition law regulations. For its investigations, the GVH will utilize historical data from its online price monitoring tool, which tracks prices of over 5,000 food and household products across six national retail chains and three national drugstore chains.