MINSK, 10 June (BelTA) – A program has been worked out to slow down price growth in Belarus, BelTA learned from an interview of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade Minister Aleksei Bogdanov with the Respublika newspaper.
Aleksei Bogdanov said: “Together with other government agencies we've worked out and forwarded to the government a program to tame price growth. The program stipulates a number of short-term measures. I expect the document will be adopted soon and its details will be revealed to the general public. It is not the only thing that will help leash inflation faster. All the government agencies are working on enabling and improving business operation terms. They will help offset the negative influence of external factors, increase output figures, substitute imports, and raise the quality of products. All of it will help return inflation to single digits in the near future.”
In the course of regulating prices the Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade Ministry is supposed to preserve the efficiency and economic stability of Belarusian manufacturers and importers of critical goods, preserve the steady operation of retailers, and observe interests of consumers. “We constantly analyze how well the measures we take work and adjust our approaches when necessary. There is no other way today because the situation in the world economy is changing very rapidly and we have to promptly take the corresponding measures in order to dampen the negative impact on our economy,” the antimonopoly regulation and trade minister stated.
In his words, the situation on the consumer market has recovered and remains stable. A broad range of products is available in retail and matches consumer preferences. There is no misbalance of supply and demand on the consumer market. “Taking into account the introduction of sanctions against our country, importers promptly redirected shipments from friendly countries while Belarusian manufacturers are busy increasing their output and mastering the production of new kinds of merchandise that have not been made in the country before. We see that a broad choice of all the goods Belarusian consumers have grown accustomed to is available in retail in full. There are no shortages,” Aleksei Bogdanov stressed.
