This photo taken on April 9, 2023 shows a coffee shop in Zagreb, Croatia. (Xinhua/Li Xuejun)
ZAGREB, April 9 (Xinhua) -- For Anton Jurkovic, a Zagreb pensioner, the Easter used to mean a get-together of family members and friends and enjoy the very best wines and food, including ham, lam, fish, eggs, and cakes.
However, due to the high inflation and rising prices, he has to keep a tight grip on his purse strings for this year's Easter holiday meals, especially the Easter Sunday lunch.
"It is terrible. Easter is my favourite holiday, but prices are so high that I can not even afford a festive meal for my family. This year we will only have a modest celebration," Jurkovic told Xinhua.
Jurkovic was echoed by Zeljka Babic, a Zegreb citizen, who lamented that the costs for the Easter food "has drastically increased" due to the high inflation. "Everything is getting more expensive," he said.
Jurkovic and Babic are among the many Croatians who have strongly felt the heat of the high inflation after Croatia's introduction of euro on Jan. 1 this year, as the inflation rate in March stood at 10.6 percent and the 15.3 percent increase of food prices was even more acute for pensioners who receive an average monthly pension of less than 400 euros (440 U.S. dollars).
"Prices are increasing, people are buying less, some people even can not afford a kilo of sardine that costs four euros," Snjezana Samona, a trader in a fish market in Zagreb, told Xinhua.
The Independent Trade Unions of Croatia has proclaimed that the Easter consumer basket, a standard set of food commonly purchased by consumers during the Easter holiday, now costs 328 euros, a significant increase compared with the same period in previous years.
Therefore, most people will have to make do with the modest basket that costs 100 euros, while many even can not afford that, said Kresimir Sever, president of the Independent Trade Unions.
"Many people in Croatia can not afford a traditional Easter basket," he told Xinhua, adding that people are compelled to be frugal for the festival, although traditionally Easter has always been reserved for true food hedonism in this country of 3.88-million people. (1 euro = 1.1 U.S. dollar) ■
People walk past a popcorn stall in Zagreb, Croatia, on April 9, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Xuejun)
People walk past a pizza shop in Zagreb, Croatia, on April 9, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Xuejun)