CROATIA'S AUGUST RETAIL PRICES UP 0.8%

ZAGREB, Sept 1 (Hina) - Retail prices in August were 0.8 per cent higher than in July, showing a 3.5 per cent increase in comparison to the same month last year, the State Bureau of Statistics said in a statement on Monday. In the first eight months of this year, retail prices went up by 3.6 per cent as against the same period last year. Living costs in August rose by 0.2 per cent in comparison to the previous month. Compared to the first eight months in 1996, they increased by a total of 4.0 per cent. Price increases were registered in 13 branches of the economy, the highest in the production of oil derivatives, where prices rose by 15.6 per cent. Prices of non-ferrous metals increased by 8.1 per cent, of building materials by 3.9 per cent, while prices in the power industry rose by 3.0 per cent. (hina) vm mm 011410 MET sep 97