STEVANOVIĆ: GLOBAL UNCERTAINTY WILL KEEP FUEL PRICES UNSTABLE

BANJA LUKA, OCTOBER 15 /SRNA/ – Fuel prices cannot be expected to stabilize in the coming period amid a global climate in which neither rules nor agreements are being respected, economist Saša Stevanović told SRNA.

Stevanović said problems with diesel and energy were global in scope and a sign of instability.

"I do not think prices can be expected to stabilize when an agreement between the United States and Russia is met with a refusal to recognize it. When you have a world in which rules and agreements are not respected, you cannot expect stability," Stevanović said.

He added that uncertainty and instability were more likely to become the norm.

"For every step toward an agreement, there are two new steps that take us further away from a solution. The impact of rising fuel prices can be seen in the world’s largest economy. Data released yesterday showing higher-than-expected inflation in the United States have set off alarm bells in financial markets," Stevanović said.

He noted that the US Federal Reserve would have to raise interest rates to curb inflation, and that higher rates would further worsen the already difficult conditions facing businesses and households amid uncertainty, both in the United States and worldwide.

According to Stevanović, employment in the world's largest economy can also be expected to decline.

He said stabilization policies now needed to come into play, noting that this year's Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences also focused on the field of stabilization policies, or policies designed to influence household consumption.