Moldovan government to monitor increase in prices
Prime Minister Vlad Filat asked Moldovan fiscal institutions to strictly monitor the formation of prices, so that the government intervene to lessen the effects of eventual increase in prices.
The prime minister stressed at a meeting that a string of actions should be taken to secure the observance of legislation "in order to have reasonable prices and not to daily pay for someone's speculations". There are several ways for the government to intervene: by monitoring the value chain, by implementing the mechanism for regulating prices of socially important goods and by allotting compensations to less well-off people, Filat said.
In the context, Filat asked the subordinated institutions to present their positions on the formation of prices on the domestic market and on the need to intervene in order to secure competition in all the sectors.
Deputy Premier, Economics Minister Valeriu Lazar said that the trend of increase in prices on the domestic market, which had been recorded in 2010 and would continue in 2011, is determined by tendencies on foreign markets, as Moldova imports energy and oil resources. Lazar gave assurances that tariffs on electricity would not increase till April 2011.
Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister, Dumitru Godoroja said that the price of vegetable oil would decrease by late January, if tariffs on electricity do not increase. Godoroja said that no increase in diary products is expected in the next period and that there are sufficient reserves of grains in order to secure the production of bread and not to allow the increase in price.
In 2010, the annual inflation rate was 8.1 per cent. Prices of foodstuffs hiked by 7.1 per cent, following a 42-per-cent increase in the price of vegetable oil. The prices of non-food products increased by 7.7 per cent (with the price of fuels soaring by 25 per cent) and utilities by 9.7 per cent (of which electricity by 20.4 per cent, natural gas by 26.2 per cent and thermal energy by 25.3 per cent).
Moldpres
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