Barely 48 hours after adopting the euro, Croatia discovered itself within the throes of rising costs that angered residents, shopper safety teams, and the federal government.
The third day of Croatia’s eurozone membership introduced widespread fury over the most recent worth hikes associated solely to the swap to the one foreign money, which the federal government known as “perfidious exploitation and dishonest profiteering.”
Croatia grew to become the euro space’s twentieth member on 1 January, full with a flying go to from European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen to Zagreb on Sunday.
On Tuesday, quite a few residents reported worth hikes from retailers and repair suppliers regardless of earlier assurances from the federal government and the central financial institution that there can be no upward rounding off of costs as soon as the euro grew to become authorized tender.
Economic system Minister Davor Filipović known as on Tuesday for an pressing face-to-face assembly with main retail chains to debate worth hikes.
After a brief assembly, he advised the media that “retail chains have been elevating costs each month, and now, after the euro adoption, they’re elevating costs once more and making an attempt to cheat residents. However that shall not cross.”
In a subsequent tweet, Filipović defined that “all choices are on the desk, from black lists to a freeze on costs on a wide selection of merchandise. Croatian residents and the federal government demand a reducing of costs.”
The retail sector throughout the Croatian Employers’ Affiliation replied that they had been “unpleasantly shocked and shocked by the threats” made by the minister.
The state inspectorate recorded 1,738 violations of the regulation on euro adoption, Index.hr reported on Tuesday.
Ana Knežević of the native shopper safety group stated residents had been “indignant and upset as a result of we’ve had a stampede of costs since final yr.”
“And on a regular basis we’ve been advised that the euro adoption wouldn’t lead to larger costs,” EURACTIV reported in late December that worth hikes had been already widespread and extra was anticipated, with little management by the authorities.
(Zoran Radosavljević | EURACTIV.com)
