Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Monday he does not expect the freezing of prices to have a negative impact on small retailers, on the contrary, he expects that it will stimulate competition and lower prices.

Commenting on claims that the price freeze could adversely affect hurt small traders, Plenkovic replied that the experience from the first price capping, when the price ceiling was set for seven products, showed that this would not hurt small retailers.

I know from experience that this will not happen, as was the case with with the seven products for which the government limited the highest price, They were not missing from the shelves, instead  competition arose, said Plenkovic after the ceremony marking the completion of boring the second tube through Mount Učka within the Y motorway.

He says that the government’s new measures will protect citizens, especially those with the lowest incomes, and he expects to create competition on the market and lower prices, and not only for products whose prices the government limited with its package of measures.

He also recalled that banks have announced that they will raise interest rates on savings, but not on cash loans and housing mortgages.

Asked if he had a message for suppliers who announced the possibility of price increases from October 1, he replied that everyone has room to contribute to reducing inflation and price growth, while the government ensured with its measures that practically no one felt the energy crisis.

“The government has ensured the unchanged price of energy products, so there is room for suppliers, traders and producers,” said.