Business news

27 Oct 2023

Lukashenko announces plans to revisit pricing issues

An archive photo

MINSK DISTRICT, 27 October (BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko announced plans to hold meetings on price regulation soon as he talked to reporters during his working trip to Minsk District, BelTA reports.

“In the near future (this year for sure, it will depend on my schedule) we will hold a meeting to discuss this situation. We will do it not in general terms, but will go into specifics. We will review what the government has done over this time to keep prices under control. By and large, we were right. It has turned out that retail chains and even many manufacturers have made a great deal of excessive profits and we should deal with it. Three days ago I had a tough conversation with Snopkov [First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Snopkov]) on this issue; he is responsible for this area of work in the government. And he agreed that our manufacturers and trade outlets still have a lot of excessive profits and we should deal with it. We are able to keep prices at the desired level. There is still work to do, but we have done the right thing,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko.

The head of state noted that the inflation rate in Belarus is now just over 3%, lower than expected. “Maybe it will grow a little bit by the new year, but it will not be 9%. We have halved the rise in prices, reduced inflation. Thus, we have done the right thing,” the president is convinced.

At the same time, Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized that prices should not be dictated by the government. Manufacturers and trade outlets should be able to decide on prices on their own. “The same rules should apply to all,” the head of state noted. “Where there is control, there is a result,” he said.

“Our decision to come to grips with pricing has proved to be right. But business people, entrepreneurs, manufacturers and sellers should not be confused about the pricing process. This should not happen. Snopkov and his team will be responsible for this, I have told him about it. They should come up with a mechanism enabling entrepreneurs to set prices by themselves, without inflating them. We will talk about it and build a better understanding what we have to do next. But this mechanism is constantly being adjusted,” the president concluded.



Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa