BUDAPEST, June 16 (Xinhua) -- The government of Hungary has decided to extend the caps on fuel and staple food prices until Oct. 1, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on his Facebook page on Thursday.

       He said that the cap on retail mortgage interest rates -- a measure introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic -- will remain in place until Dec. 31.

       On Jan. 12, the government decided to freeze at their October 2021 level the prices of granulated sugar, wheat flour, sunflower oil, pork thighs, chicken breast and 2.8 percent milk for the period between Feb. 1 and May 1 as a measure to combat inflation.

       It also fixed the price of petrol and diesel at 480 Hungarian forints (1.27 U.S. dollars) per liter on Nov. 15 last year, and then extended the price cap from Feb. 15 for three months until mid-May.

       Then, on April 27, the government decided to keep the measures in place until July 1. Now this latest deadline has been extended.

       According to official figures, the rate of inflation in Hungary was 10.7 percent in April, well above the 3 percent target set by the Hungarian National Bank (MNB). The bank originally forecast a 7.5-9.8 percent inflation rate for this year.