March 15 (SeeNews) – The Croatian government said it has introduced a package of measures worth 503 million euro ($547.3 million) aimed at maintaining low energy prices and protecting against inflation.
A total of 389 million euro is allocated to keep energy product prices low and 114 million euro is earmarked for anti-inflationary measures, the government said in a press release on Thursday.
The measures will help keep unchanged the price of electricity for households, the public institutions and non-profit sector, and small businesses until the end of September, according to the government. Additionally, gas prices will stay unchanged for all consumers and prices for 30 essential products will remain capped until the end of September.
The government will also subsidise electricity and heating bills for citizens in vulnerable categories, as well as provide financial support to retired citizens with low pensions and unemployed war veterans. The package also includes financial support for public transportation carriers and university students.
This is the sixth package of government measures to cushion the effects of the energy crisis and the pandemic. Excluding the latest measures, the government has spent as much as 8.5 billion euro on similar initiatives since the spring of 2020.
Croatia’s consumer prices increased by 4.1% on the year in February, after rising at the same rate in January.
($ = 0.919 euro)
