The NHS trade union federation has calculated the consumer basket for the coming Easter holidays, warning that there will be citizens who will not be able to afford even the most modest basket.

This year the expensive Easter consumer basket will cost about €328, the middle one €204 and the modest one €100, NHS leader Kresimir Sever told a press conference in Zagreb on Tuesday.

“Only the expensive basket reflects the spirit of the tradition and includes what in normal circumstances should be available to all people. The middle one slightly departs from that and is a compromise, while the modest one provides for a modest holiday table,” Sever said.

This year the inflation rate in Croatia is 10.6% and food prices have gone up by 15.3%, and last year they increased by nearly 20%, the NHS leader noted.

He said that the consumer baskets were meant for families of three for the four days of the Easter holidays.

The expensive basket includes best quality fish for Good Friday, ham, lamb or veal, cake and beverages. The middle one contains rolled ham, cheaper fish, young pork or average quality meat, while the modest basket includes pilchards as the cheapest fish, chicken, pork shoulder, cheap beverages and cake.

“Unfortunately, there is a group of citizens who will not be able to afford even the modest holiday basket because they can hardly make ends meet,” Sever said.

He said that the situation was particularly difficult for pensioners, because the average pension cannot cover basic living costs, and for persons on the national minimum monthly wage of €560. He added that the majority of people would not be able to celebrate Easter decently given that over 800,000 people receive a median monthly wage of €930 and there are over 1.2 million pensioners.

Asked to compare the prices of this year’s Easter baskets with last year’s, Sever said that the price differences were “huge, almost incomparable”, and were already significant last Easter.