MPs belonging to the opposition party Most and the Social Democrats used the debate on the new law on consumer protection in Parliament on Friday to slam the government for its "poor handling of inflation."

“Everyone is protecting their citizens except the Croatian government, which is only saying that it might do something about the inflation,” MP Davor Bernardic (SDP) said, after listing various measures adopted by some other European countries to combat the rapid increase in prices, such as cutting sales tax or freezing prices for essential items and energy.

Bernardic proposed that Croatia should freeze the prices of staple foods, and called on MPs to support the idea.

“Over the last 10 months, half of all food products have become more expensive. Prices of some products went up 150 percent, and the price of toilet paper has gone up by as much as 50 percent,” he added.

MP Nikola Grmoja from the conservative populist party Most called for the government to forgo excise taxes on fuel, because otherwise “the cost will again be borne by consumers.” Excise tax on gasoline – included in every liter sold – accounts for about 30 percent of the retail price of fuel.