“The traders did not imagine such a revolt,” Josip Kelemen, of the Halo Inspektore consumer association, who initiated the boycott, said in the media. The opposition, the unions, some ministers and several personalities also called for support for the movement.
Right-wing Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said the boycott was an “important and articulate message from citizens who want to monitor and compare prices” with those in other countries. The move will be taken into account when reviewing basic necessities whose prices are limited, he told a government meeting.
Clients. At 4 p.m., the country’s traders had received 50% less turnover than at the same time last Friday, the tax administration said in a press release. In Zagreb, only a handful of customers were shopping in the capital’s main supermarket, usually crowded at this time, AFP noted.
“Traders will not suffer financially, but it is an important, symbolic message. The abnormal rise in prices must stop,” said Danko Horvat, a bartender in Zagreb who decided to go on a purchasing strike.
-Inflation. Organizers accuse traders of being mainly responsible for inflation, which reached 4.5% in December compared to 2.4% on average in the euro zone. But several economists warn that the impact of this initiative will be weak, and affirm that the rise in prices is not the main factor of inflation in any case.
Croatia, which joined the euro zone in 2023, must manage a bloated public sector, one of the highest VATs in the European Union (2.5%), aging and a decline in its population, from 4 .5 to 3.8 million in 25 years, they explain. The average salary in November was 1,366 euros.
© Agence France-Presse
