Croatia introduces the euro at the turn of the year. But the European common currency seems to be causing the prices for coffee, food or a visit to the hairdresser to skyrocket. Many Croatians are letting off steam in the network because of this.
Two days after the introduction of the euro as a means of payment in the EU country Croatia, complaints about suddenly more expensive grocery shopping and visits to the hairdresser and café are piling up. In various Internet forums, numerous users would express their dissatisfaction with the price increases and provide concrete examples, reports the news portal index.hr. Economics Minister Davor Filipovic promised government measures against retail.
The holiday destination, which is also popular with Germans, replaced the national currency kuna with the euro on New Year’s Day. At the same time, the country on the Adriatic also joined the border control-free Schengen zone. The euro and kuna can still be used in parallel until January 14th. The exchange rate is fixed at 7.5345 kuna for one euro.
Filipovic attacked retail. “They are raising prices month after month and now, in this situation with the euro, they are raising prices and trying to dupe the citizens,” he told reporters. But this will not succeed. The government has enough power to protect consumers. “From black lists to price caps, everything is on the table,” said Filipovic. The minister had previously met with representatives of the retail chains to address the price increases.
Cafes, snack bars, grocery stores and bakeries in particular are said to have raised their prices significantly, according to postings in Internet forums. A coffee in the catering trade has become 10 to 20 cents more expensive, a loaf of bread by 7 cents, a 500 gram pack of cream cheese by 26 cents, a pizza by 30 cents, the news portal quotes from the postings.
