The Eastern European country of Belarus is taking drastic steps to tame runaway inflation by prohibiting consumer-facing businesses from raising prices.
The price controls were announced on Oct. 6 by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who was cited by state media as saying he was imposing the ban on consumer price increases in response to “exorbitant” inflation.
“From 6 October, any increase in prices is prohibited. Forbidden!” the state-run Belta news agency quoted Lukashenko as saying during a meeting of government ministers.
The price caps start “from today. Not from tomorrow, but from today. So that they do not inflate prices over the day,” Lukashenko said, according to the outlet….