Electricity prices will most likely go up on April 1, Tanjug learned from the Serbian government.

Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic removed the proposal to raise electricity prices on March 1 from the agenda of Thursday's government session, and asked for a more detailed analysis of the influence of higher electricity prices on inflation and the prices of other products.

According to information obtained by Tanjug, the government will discuss the proposal to raise electricity prices on April 1 at a phone session on Friday.

The government will follow the recommendation of national power company Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) to protect the poorest segments of population, so the price will stay the same for the households consuming up to 350 kWh a month.

The government will also make sure to protect the interests of citizens and companies, as well as the EPS, Tanjug learned.

Serbia's Energy Agency assessed that prices of electricity for households can go up a maximum of 13.5 percent, and slightly more for other categories of consumers.

The average price of electricity in Serbia is currently RSD 5 or 4.8 euro cents per kWh, and 4.9 RSD or 4.65 euro cents for households.

The last price hike of 10 percent on average was on March 1, 2010.