The government has approved a draft decree on how to judge whether a rise in the price of goods and services is economically justified, the Council of Ministers press office said.

The method rests on Article 68n, paragraph 8 of the Consumer Protection Act. It sets out how to measure the size of a price rise and how to choose a comparable earlier period.

Inspectors will also check whether a price went up because of objective economic factors. There must be a direct and proportionate link between the two. Under the draft, the assessment will rely on public, verifiable and comparable data, and the results of inspections will be recorded.

The aim is to give inspections one set of rules. These should help the bodies that monitor the market to spot large price deviations and check for rises that have no economic justification.

The press office said the method does not regulate prices by administrative order and does not set mandatory selling prices or maximum retail mark-ups. It sets rules for analysis and control, while keeping room for economically justified pricing, free enterprise and competition.

The Consumer Protection Commission has been checking the prices actually charged and trading practices since 2 October. On Monday its chair, Maya Manolova, said that on some dairy products in the big retail chains the mark-up reaches more than 140%.