Alexander Lukashenko introduced a ban on price increases in Belarus, Belta reports .
“Prices today are outrageous. They hit the ceiling. You can't raise prices any further. <…> From the 6th, any increase in prices is prohibited. For-pre-shcha-et-sya! From today. Not from tomorrow, but from today. So that prices don’t go up overnight … And God forbid someone in the accounting department will carry out something retroactively, some calculations, recalculations, ”the agency quotes Lukashenka as saying.
To control the situation, a working group has already been created, which includes representatives of the state control committee, trade unions, Belstat, as well as deputies and senators. Until October 20, it must propose ways to regulate prices in the country.
Lukashenka also warned companies not to take it into their heads to leave the market against this background. “God forbid, some store will leave or it will be closed, some office, eatery and others. God forbid they leave the market. You will answer for this,” he threatened government officials.
“For violation – detentions and criminal cases,” he warned.
In addition, Lukashenka demanded that next year inflation be "single-digit" – no more than 7-8%. As of August 2022, annual inflation in Belarus amounted to 17.9%.