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Zagreb - Finance Minister Zdravko Marić said on Thursday that the measures proposed by the government could not offset the price rises fully but they could alleviate their impact.
During a parliamentary debate on draft amendments to the law on the Value Added Tax whereby VAT rates are lowered on gas and food, Marić said that the tax policy could not solve all the issues and that a lower VAT rate did not necessarily mean that prices would drop to a desirable extent, however, "all of us should make contributions to the well-being of citizens."
The government will follow the effects of the measures and then draw conclusions on the effects of lower VAT rates, he explained.
He said that all possible measures for buffering the blow of the growing prices were being considered and that all steps should be taken in compliance with the relevant EU directives.
Marić forecast a possible drop in fuel prices next week considering the trend in Brent oil prices on the global market.
The minister said that revenues from VAT in the first two and a half months of 2022 were higher by a billion kuna compared with the same period in 2021 and had reached HRK 9.1 billion.
Contribution revenues have increased by HRK 700 million on the year, he said, adding that "those figures hint at a solid economic activity this year."