Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said his government had “an arsenal of tools” to punish those who raised prices after the country adopted the euro last week and said “they have time until Friday” to return prices to previous levels.
Prices in the newest eurozone member rose steadily in 2022 as inflation hit double digits, fuelled primarily by the unfolding energy crisis.
But a number of retailers and service providers profited from the adoption of the single currency on 1 January to round off prices upward, triggering widespread anger among Croats, particularly as the government had assured them there would be no price hikes.
“We approached this task in good faith,” Plenković said, as reported by N1.
“Unfortunately, a number of companies used the euro adoption as a pretext to raise prices,” he said, adding that available data does not suggest higher input costs that would justify the hikes.
“Our (inspection) officials are on the ground, we have an arsenal of tools and we shall not hesitate to use them,” Plenković said, mentioning possible cuts in subsidies or punitive taxes.
“They have until Friday to return prices to previous levels,” he added.
Croatian central bank Governor Boris Vujčić told EURACTIV that raising prices because of the euro was unjustified because there was no need for it.
“The experience of other countries that joined the eurozone showed that the average rise of prices related to the euro was between 0.2 and 0.4%”.
(Zoran Radosavljević | EURACTIV.com)
Source: euractiv.com
