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Lukashenka warns public over rubel's exchange rate

Alyaksandr Lukashenka on Tuesday warned the public that it would be to blame for any coming sharp weakening of the national currency.

While visiting mining dump truck plant BelAZ in Zhodzina, Minsk region, Mr. Lukashenka said that the government had "bloated" wages and salaries. "But what worries me most? Once you get a spare rubel, where do you run? [You run] to currency exchange outlets to buy foreign cash. And afterward they wonder whether or not there will be a devaluation," the government's news agency quoted Mr. Lukashenka as saying.

"If there is a devaluation, it is you who will cause it," he warned.

Mr. Lukashenka also revisited controversy over his recent remarks about the possibility of imposing a $100 tax on Belarusians traveling abroad for shopping. "Border guards report that some people travel abroad up to 700 times. What do they do there? They buy foreign cash, which we earn, take it out and bring in clothes," he said, reiterating that Belarusian cross-border shoppers left $3 billion abroad annually.

Mr. Lukashenka expressed certainty that Belarus' economy would manage to recover once what he described as a global economic crisis was over. "We did not stop in hard times. We have lived off the real sector rather than oil and gas. And when the crisis is over, we will look decently," he was quoted as saying. //BelaPAN