Plenković Warns of Higher Inflation Without Government Measures
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković stated that without government measures, inflation in Croatia would currently be at 7%. He made this statement after a meeting with Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder. The current year-on-year inflation rate measured by the consumer price index in September is 4.7%, which is 0.5 percentage points higher than August and 0.8% compared to July.
The Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS) reported that energy prices had the greatest impact on the rise in inflation, rising by 20.5% year-on-year in September. Food, beverages, and tobacco rose by only 0.2%, while non-food industrial products fell by 1.4%. Plenković credited government measures for mitigating the growth of certain segments.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the impact of government interventions on fuel prices, stating that blue diesel is 10 cents cheaper, eurosuper 20 cents cheaper, and eurodiesel as much as 32 cents cheaper than without government measures. Croatia has asked the European Commission for permission to lower excise duties below the minimum threshold set by European regulations.