Tozik: The situation will be no worse

Deputy Prime Minister Tozik promises that rubel will not be devalued in first days of January.

The economic situation of Belarus’ population will not deteriorate on January 3, 2014, Deputy Prime Minister Anatol Tozik said in an interview broadcast on Saturday evening by TV channel RTR-Belarus.

“The situation on January 3 will be no worse than it will be on December 31; it may be better,” Mr. Tozik said when asked about people’s fears that the government would devalue the national currency on January 3 as was the case on the first working day in 2009.

As for the likelihood of dismissals of key economic ministers in case of the government’s failure to meet economic targets for the first quarter of 2014, Mr. Tozik said that this would be a right decision. “That is why we should do what we can,” he said. “If we fail, others should come in and do the job.”