January 13 (SeeNews) - Croatia's government said on Thursday that it would fine businesses found to abuse the euro changeover to lift prices - a practice denting the purchasing power of the population and pushing further up the inflation rate, which is already high.
If the government continues finding further violations of the laws it has a number of tools to protect consumers including restoration of prices to pre-euro levels, cancelling subsidies and cutting VAT on some products, prime minister Andrej Plenkoivc said during a cabinet meeting, as seen in a video recording published on the government's website.
Croatia joined the euro area on January 1, abandoning the kuna currency. Last week, the government requested the companies which inreasonably raised the prices of their services and goods since the start of 2023 to restore the prices to the levels that existed up to December 31.
Some 30% of inspected businesses unfairly raised prices of services and goods after January 1, Vedrana Filipovic Grcic, an official at the state inspectorate, told the same cabinet meeting. The highest fines amount to 26,544 euro ($28,800) for businesses and 1,991 euro for individual retailers, Filipovic Grcic added.
Croatia's consumer prices increased by 13.5% on the year in November, after rising by 13.2% in October, the latest data from the national statistical office showed.
($ = 0.923 euro)