Hungary Plans Export Limits, Tax to Cut Building-Material Prices

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Hungary plans to enact export controls on some building materials from October in a bid to slow spiraling price-growth, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.

The government may also introduce a 90% tax on profits on such materials above a certain threshold, Orban said in a state radio interview on Friday, without offering more specifics.

State intervention is needed because the price surge threatens to undermine a signature government program that extends state subsidies to help families renovate and expand homes, he said. The Hungarian leader is facing the most closely-contested election next year since his return to power in 2010.

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