OREANDA-NEWS. May 18, 2012. Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko emphasizes the importance of restraining price growth within 20% per year in 2012.

In his annual address to the nation and the parliament, President Lukashenko referred to restraining price growth and restoring the pre-crisis level of household incomes as a top priority. “We cannot allow consumer prices to rise by more than 20% per annum, especially since not a country has so far abandoned the practice of price regulation,” Lukashenko said.

“We cannot allow the market to rule everywhere. We should and we will exercise reasonable control over the prices, so there will be no price chaos any more. We are gradually moving towards free price formation, but what we really need today is a golden mean. A tough approach to price formation

leads to shortages and the exodus of commodities from Belarus, while the so-called free market often spawns speculative activities and hits the pockets of common people,” Lukashenko said.

At the same time, the president assured that Belarus’ prices would never be higher than in Russia and Ukraine. “In fact, prices in Belarus should be on par with the price level in Russia and Ukraine,” Lukashenko said.