(Bloomberg) -- A plan to shield Hungarians from the European Union’s highest inflation before the holidays has backfired, with retailers rationing staple foods in a throwback to the nation’s communist past. 

Following a move by Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government to cap prices on pantry basics, retailer Aldi is limiting shoppers to buying only 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of potatoes and a single liter of milk per visit due to a surge in demand. 

Other grocery chains such as Spar, Lidl and Tesco have introduced similar restrictions. That’s leading some to wonder how they’ll bake the traditional ‘bejgli,’ a Christmas pastry fixture on Hungarian tables usually filled with poppy-seeds or walnuts.

“I came here because my neighbor said there’s milk now,” said Magdolna, 67, who was shopping at an Aldi in Budapest. “Usually there isn’t any and I haven’t seen eggs in a while. I don’t know how I’ll bake for Christmas.” 

Orban’s effort to cap food prices are part of a push to put a ceiling on the costs of everything from fuel to even mortgages to help Hungarians weather Europe’s cost-of-living crisis. But the nation’s central bank says the measures have boomeranged, creating shortages and driving prices higher in one of the world’s most open economies.

The government sees what is the EU’s fastest inflation — at 22.5% — accelerating to 25% by year-end. Food prices rose 49% in November from a year ago in November, more than double the bloc’s average. 

The data will likely force the central bank to significantly raise its inflation forecast when it meets on interest rates on Tuesday and to keep the benchmark at 13%. The effective key rate is already at 18% after an emergency rate hike in October. Policy makers poured cold water on earlier bets of a rate cut as soon this month, citing spiraling inflation.

The government has already been forced to backtrack, with a nationwide gasoline shortage forcing Orban to scrap a fuel-price cap this month. But last week he extended the cap on food staples until end-April, including on sugar, flour, sunflower oil and some meats.

Food shelves are still stocked in Hungary — though many with even higher-priced alternates to the goods that are capped. The price of powdered sugar, for example, rose 122% compared to February, while 1.5%-fat milk increased 90% versus regular 2.8% milk, according to a central bank study published last week. 

That’s raised alarm at the central bank, with Governor Gyorgy Matolcsy telling lawmakers this month that price caps needed to be removed “immediately” to bring inflation under control.

“If this economic policy continues, then we’re going to lose out on a decade, we’ll face stagnation and stagflation,” Matolcsy said on Dec. 5. “We can still prevent this now — we won’t be able to next year.”

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