An opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) official has insisted that higher household energy bills will feed into “brutal inflation” by the end of the year. Referring to a portfolio.hu report, László Varju, the leftist party’s deputy leader, told an online press briefing on Monday that it was likely that inflation had “jumped” to 13% in July, and the market expected the December price index swell to 16.5%. Also, he cited g7.hu, an online business and finance outlet, in July as reporting annual food-price inflation of almost 35%. Varju demanded the government help people with VAT and other tax reductions as well as subsidies.