Belarus’ trade ministry comments on inflation in July

The Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade Ministry of Belarus has commented on the pricing situation in the consumer market in July, BelTA informs.

The year-on-year increase in consumer prices in July slowed down by 0.5% over the previous month and amounted to 18.1%. Prices went up by 13.7% over December 2021.
The ministry explained the reasons for the year-on-year increase in consumer prices in June-July. First and foremost, the prices were driven by the 13.2% weakening of the Belarusian ruble against the Russian ruble, which pushed prices up for non-food products. The significant impact of this factor on prices is explained by the substantial share of goods from the Russian Federation on the domestic market, the ministry noted.

The year-on-year price rise in July over June was the biggest for synthetic detergents, tea, footwear, electrical goods and clothing. “Meat and meat products rose in price by 17.8% over the past twelve months. Prices for bread and bakery products increased by 15.1%, prices for milk and dairy products went up by 13.9%,” the ministry informed.

The inflationary processes were somewhat held back by price stabilization in the fruit and vegetable segment: in April - July, the year-on-year price rise shrank from 45.1% to 20%. Experts also pointed to a slowdown in price growth for automotive fuel (22.6%), furniture (up to 16%), wallpaper (up to 12.5%).

In July, prices for meat and dairy products continued to climb. In particular, prices for meat and meat products went up by 1.1% over the previous month, milk and dairy products became 1.3% more expensive.

The inflation was spurred by the increase in prices for tourism services, as well as for goods that are not produced in Belarus or are produced in insufficient quantities, like household electrical appliances, confectionery, cars, perfumes and cosmetics and synthetic detergents.

At the same time, prices for fruit and vegetable products dropped by 10% over the month. Vegetables became 14.2% cheaper, prices for fruit went down by 11.3%. Prices for white cabbage shrank by 41.2%, tomatoes by 14.8%, cucumbers by 12.9%, apples by 10.3%.