Cypriot consumers said last week they wanted the competition commission to probe why healthcare costs had risen in the run-up to euro adoption.

Cyprus enters the euro zone on 1 January along with Malta. Prices have been monitored for several months and authorities say that they have not detected any cases of profiteering.

But in some cases, the consumers association said, medical costs in the past year had risen by more than 10 per cent.

“We carried out a probe ahead of the euro introduction and the answers we received gave us cause for concern,” consumer association chairman Petros Markou said.

“This goes for doctors, pathologists and especially dentists. The issue is not how much prices increased but how the decision to increase them was taken,” Markou said. The medical association says its price increases are monitored and sanctioned by authorities.

The competition commission said it had no power to intervene on charges which have been previously set under existing legislation.

“There has been no collusion but only the dentist association price list which was approved by our general assembly,” said Thomas Choutras, secretary of the Dentists Association.

The last review in charges before 2007 was in 2001, he said.

Opinion polls have consistently suggested Cypriots are lukewarm about adopting the European currency, with about two thirds worried about price increases from the changeover.