Head of central bank: food price regulation would only delay problem

Gediminas Šimkus, chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, says that even though it is the rising food prices that have the biggest impact on the inflation rate, it would not be wise for the Government to undertake any kind of food price regulation.

The cases of Poland and Hungary show that governments spend a lot of money when trying to influence prices, by lowering the value added tax (VAT) or controlling the price of a basket of essential products, Šimkus noted. But these measures have no real benefit after all, Šimkus continued.