No objective reasons to devalue Belarusian ruble

MINSK, 22 February (BelTA) – There are no objective reasons to devalue the national currency in Belarus. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko made the statement on 22 February, BelTA has learned.

When asked to comment on opinions of individual representatives of the so-called expert community, who believe that the country can hit intense modernization targets only by devaluing the national currency, Alexander Lukashenko said: “I treat it as idle talk. We have no need to devalue the national currency at present. But if someone thinks that modernization can be accomplished at the expense of devaluation, I don’t want that kind of modernization. I don’t want to put the society through periodic crises and shocks only for the sake of erecting a building or laying a new line. We can accomplish modernization within a longer time but calmly”.

The head of state remarked: “Some people once again want to shake the society by crying about devaluation. Let them cry. It is news for me that some idiots in the country, the so-called expert community speak about the devaluation of the national currency in the name of some modernization. We don’t need modernization at such a price”.

“There are no objective reasons today to devalue the national currency,” assured the President. He mentioned reports presented by the National Bank head that say that positive processes have been going on in the currency sphere lately. The nation and corporations now buy less foreign currency while the National Bank buys more foreign currency than it sells. “Why does someone have to make a problem out of nothing to shake the entire society?” the Belarusian head of state asked a rhetorical question.