The introduction of fuel vouchers in the autumn remains a possibility, but the government still has other tools at its disposal, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Friday.

The vouchers are intended for those with a lower income, and that is something that we have to do according to certain criteria, said Plenkovic, who was visiting Osijek-Baranja County.

He added that the “ministries had been given homework” and that this was a plan that would might be carried out in the autumn.

I said recently that everything was on the table, said Plenkovic.

He announced a government conference call for Monday at which decisions will be adopted on prices which could change on Tuesday after a decision to cap fuel prices at petrol stations not located on highways expires.

“We are monitoring the situation, looking at prices on the Mediterranean market, talking with producers and distributors,” he said, adding that he thought the government would “find a solution that will first of all protect our citizens and the economy and calm the concerns of small distributors”.

Asked to comment on criticism that the government only dealt with fuel prices and ignored businesses which were paying astronomical prices for electricity, he said that the opposition forgot the package of 5 billion kuna which entered into force on 1 April and helped citizens and businesses.

He said that the government had demonstrated the ability to help the economy and citizens with interventionist measures.

Asked whether the government had plans to mitigate the increase in food prices, he recalled the reduction of the VAT rate on many products and the reduction of margins and excise duties on fuel.

He also commented on the claims that Croatia would receive €800 million less from the Recovery and Resilience Facility because its GDP was growing faster than expected. It isn’t correct that we received the most because we are the worst, as some claim, but because we fought and lobbied for that, he said.

“Croatia has overcome the COVID crisis and reached GDP growth of 10.3%,” he said.

According to him, the European Commission saw that Croatia demonstrated the ability for rapid recovery and then, like 21 countries, Croatia received €800 million less and dropped from €6.3 to 5.5 billion in grants. However, he said that the total amount from the Recovery and Resilience Facility consisted of non-repayable grants and extremely favourable loans, with €3.6 billion.

“We’re moving forward with all projects, there will be enough funds for all of them,” he said.