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Lukashenka "increasingly worried" by his government`s economic policy

Alyaksandr Lukashenka said Thursday that he was “increasingly worried” by the economic policy pursued by his government.

“I don’t want to make any judgments. I would like to note only one thing: you perform significantly worse than the former cabinet,” the Belarusian leader said at a conference on the management of state-owned property, according to the government’s BelTA news agency.

“The excessive bureaucracy, numerous authorizations and fear of making decisions are only half the trouble,” he said. “What is worse is that the most recent proposals – I don’t know their architect – run counter to decisions made at the [December 2010] All-Belarusian People’s Assembly, which is really unacceptable.”

Mr. Lukashenka made it clear that he was in particular dissatisfied with “the market economy policy” followed by Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich and Deputy Prime Minister Syarhey Rumas, which he said echoed in stores with soaring prices. “Really, stores will soon become museums for us,” he said.

“If you disagree with me, let us put you on… the track along which the poor part of the population, which accounts for its majority, is moving,” he said. “Try to live under such circumstances. You will then perhaps understand what a pure market economy means and how you should act in this situation.”

Mr. Lukashenka rebuked the premier personally. “You do understand perfectly well that we had to manually regulate certain processes previously and have to continue doing so,” he said.

He said that he was dissatisfied with the most recent meeting held by the cabinet but did not specify what exactly he was not pleased with.

Mr. Lukashenka added that the cabinet should adhere to decisions made at the Fourth All-Belarusian People`s Assembly in December 2010. “You have been formed by the president to pursue a specific task,” he stressed.
At the meeting held by the cabinet on November 8, presidential aide Syarhey Tkachow criticized the cabinet for inflation, which he noted continued to increase. Deputy Economy Minister Alyaksandr Yarashenka said that the printing of new money to finance government programs was to blame, warning that the Belarusian rubel could plummet to 22,200 against one US dollar next year if the practice was not abandoned. Mr. Myasnikovich took sides with the deputy minister. He said that no money had been allocated to build houses, farms and other facilities under government programs and new money had had to be printed this year. “This has caused the problems that the economy today experiences,” he stressed. //BelaPAN