Reuters reports that Belarus has gone from currency devaluation to price controls, and has now announced a freezing of food prices until July 1st.
Expect to see associated food shortages by the end of the week, then new riots, further currency devaluations, etc, etc.
Welcome to the hyperinflation twilight zone.
SilverDoctors' readers who have prepared for the coming hyperinflation of the US dollar by stocking up on silver, gold, and food will be prepared for this type of chaos headed our way.
Governments always seem to respond EXACTLY THE SAME to these crisis, which gives those with the foresight to study history and current events a HUGE advantage over the rest of the population currently captivated by American Idol and the new Bachelorette, who will suddenly realize they need food as well as prime-time reality programs.
On the plus side, once hyperinflation related food shortages hit the US, obese Americans will soon be able to more easily identify with The Biggest Loser contestants.
Belarus on Tuesday froze prices on a number of foodstuffs as analysts warned that the former Soviet republic could descend into economic chaos and an IMF mission headed to Minsk to assess the situation.
A government decree said prices for fish, tea, coffee, certain types of sausages, cheese and a number of fruits and vegetables — some of which have doubled in the last two months — cannot be raised further until July 1.
Belarus devalued its ruble by 36 percent to 4,977 per dollar last week in an attempt to reduce a current account deficit largely caused by generous public spending in the run-up to Alexander Lukashenko's re-election as president last December. But the unofficial black market rate for rubles is still about 6,000 per dollar.
Russia and several other ex-Soviet nations are to decide on that bailout package on June 4.
The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that a mission would visit Belarus on June 1-13 for regular post-program monitoring. Minsk has not applied for IMF funding so far.
Click here for more...
