The Government will once a week carry out a detailed analysis of the prices of all types of products, with emphasis on social products. The announcement was made after the joint meeting of the Premier, Parliament Speaker and President on January 15, IPN reports.
“We discussed the monitoring of the evolution of prices in the Republic of Moldova with the Prime Minister. We have a market economy. The rules say the market dictates prices, but this does not mean that the Government, the state should not become involved in the monitoring of prices,” President Igor Dodon told reporters.
He noted that this mechanism was successfully implemented by the Government led by Zinaida Grechanyi, of which he and current Premier Ion Chicu also formed part.
“As regards the prices, we had a very good monitoring mechanism ten years ago, when we worked on the team. We will restore it. Everyone, including those who came and promised that they will strengthen the market economy in the Republic of Moldova, should realize that the prices are free in a market economy. We tend towards liberalization. It is important that the state bodies, including the Competition Council, do not allow cartel agreements. But the prices are set by business entities,” stated Premier Chicu.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the annual inflation rate last December was 7.5% for the past 12 months (January - December 2019). The consumer price index was 100.9% on November 2019. The nearly 1% rise in the average consumer prices was due to the 1.6% increase in food prices, 0.6% increase in nonfood prices and 0.1% rise in the prices of services provided for the population.
