26 April, Minsk /Lyudmila Sats - BELTA/. Food prices in Belarus will stabilise by mid-year. This was stated today to journalists by the Minister of Economy, Nikolai Snopkov, as reported by a BELTA correspondent. The Minister explained that food prices in Belarus are, firstly, speculative in nature, secondly, devaluational in nature, and thirdly, influenced by external factors. That is, if global food prices, or prices for key commodities, rise, then naturally, prices for individual food products also increase in Belarus. However, there are economic laws that state a product should cost as much as a buyer is willing to pay. "We are confident that by mid-year, prices will stabilise and find their equilibrium, which will also affect the consumer price index as a whole," said Nikolai Snopkov.-0-

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