The excise taxes were reduced in line with a special government regulation on excise taxes on oil products, from 1.90 kuna per litre to 1.65 kuna. This decision refers to BMB-98, BMB-95 and BMB-91 petrol, as well as to all other types of unleaded petrol.
The decrease in excise taxes means 178 million kuna less in this year's budget, Finance Minister Ivan Suker said.
Suker said that the government would see to it that the price of blue diesel, which is used by fishing boats and which is exempt from excise taxes, did not exceed four kuna.
By adopting the regulation the government has used the legal possibility to respond to oil prices with floating excise taxes in line with the Law on Excise Taxes on Oil Products.
The regulation does not refer to excise taxes on diesel fuels, leaded petrol and heating oil.
At the start of the government session, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader welcomed Wednesday's resolution of the European Parliament on Croatia, which he said confirmed Croatia's progress on the road to full EU membership and for the first time cited 2009 as the year of its possible admission to the EU.
He thanked the European Parliament's special rapporteur on Croatia, Johannes Swoboda, who drafted the resolution, and other "shadow" rapporteurs, as well as clubs of EP deputies who all supported Croatia.