Róbert Zsigó, a state secretary at the Culture and Innovation Ministry, has revealed that a government-mandated cap on markups for some staples has reduced prices of the affected food products by 17.7pc on average.

According to MTI, Zsigó said prices of around 70 products had increased, adding that the circumstances would be scrutinised.

He said the impact of the measure was expected to show up in April inflation data, and a decision on whether or not to keep the cap in place or take further steps would be taken at the end of May.

Zsigó noted that supermarket chains that failed to comply with the markup restrictions would face fines of HUF 5m per product category.

He said the cap had addressed "unjustified overpricing", pointing to an earlier 42pc profit margin on chicken wings, a 68pc markup on milk and a 129pc markup on sour cream.

In a video message on social media on Tuesday, National Economy Minister Márton Nagy said the markup cap was working.

He said the measure would keep food price inflation flat, around 7pc, in March, while headline CPI fell under 5pc. In April, he put food price inflation under 5pc and headline CPI around 4pc.