Today’s Hungarian inflation data give no cause for celebration, an opposition Socialist official said on Friday, calling on the government to „finally get a grip on inflation”. The Central Statistical Office data show consumer prices in August 16.4% higher than a year earlier, Zoltán Vajda, the chairman of parliament’s budgetary committee, told an online press briefing. He said the inflation brackets affecting pensioners and low earners in particular were higher than headline inflation, and he blamed this on government economic policymaking. Hungarian inflation, he added, was the highest in the EU and stood out in a regional comparison, too. Besides blaming the government for its „failed” financial and economic policies, he said „serious questions must be answered” in connection with the central bank. The Socialist politician called on the government to reach a quick agreement with the European Commission to unblock the country’s EU funds. Vajda said that whereas it was realistic to expect inflation to be in the single digits by year-end, the government should aim for a landing zone of 2-4% rather than its loose target.