24 февраля 2021
Prices for essential goods in Belarus are taken under strict control. The government has set the maximum allowable increase in their prices. The list of socially important goods includes 62 items: food, a number of non-food items and fifty medicines. The decision was made to avoid unjustified price jumps, attributed either to a high proportion of the imported component in the cost of production, or to difficulties in the external environment. Such goods must be available.
The prices of some products that we buy in the store almost every day have been frozen since today. For example, milk, kefir, cereals like buckwheat and barley, pasta, pork and beef, as well as fruits and vegetables. So, up to the end of February price tags will not be changed on any pretext. And in March, if there is any growth, it will be 0.2% per month and no higher, so that the goods were affordable to everyone.
The list of socially important products, the prices of which are now regulated, are mostly Belarusian products and medicines. But there are also critical imports: vegetables and sunflower oil. Yes, there are not many of them. New rules of the game apply to both producers and importers.
Control over pricing remains a priority for five years
Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Belarus: "Control over pricing will remain a priority. During the last five years, we showed that we can achieve low inflation, 5-6% a year. This is a historical minimum for our country. But the common man does not need a general price index, but the price tags he sees on the shelves in the stores."
