Electricity price increase for businesses means a chain reaction of price increases for products and services, but citizens will ultimately pay for everything

(Patria) - The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on December 12, capped the electricity price increase for businesses at a maximum of 20 percent during 2024.

The FBiH Government promised that electricity prices for households will not increase next year. However, it is being concealed that producers will raise the prices of their products because the cost of electricity, which is a component in the pricing of every product, will increase.

The Association of Employers in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina expressed dissatisfaction with the decision of the Government of the Federation of BiH to increase electricity prices by 20 percent for business entities in the Federation of BiH for 2024, writes Faktor.ba.

- All the business problems of Elektroprivreda BiH are being shifted onto the burden of the economy, i.e., citizens, because there will be price increases for products - was the reaction of Adnan Smailbegović, president of the Association of Employers of FBiH.

In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, electricity is produced by two public companies, Elektroprivreda BiH and Elektroprivreda Hrvatske zajednice Herceg Bosne (EPHZHB), so electricity prices for business entities will increase next year throughout the Federation of BiH.

Marin Bago, president of the Association for the Protection of Consumers "Futura", points out that electricity prices for citizens will increase indirectly in 2024.

- Any increase in energy prices, whether it's fuel, gas, or electricity, always leads to a chain reaction of price increases for products and services. Whether the electricity price increase is justified or not is another matter, but as a rule, in our past practice of 30 years, prices always go up when the price of any energy source increases. The trade union consumer basket has already reached three thousand marks; any increase on this price of the monthly consumer basket is catastrophic because the average salary in the Federation cannot feed a family of four - said Bago.