Miasnikovich against dollar

The prime minister wants to strengthen the currency legislation.

Prime minister Mikhail Miasnikovich thinks Belarus has a too liberal legislation. “We need to strengthen the currency legislation. Ours is good for countries with freely convertible currencies, but the Belarusian ruble doesn't belong to them,” Miasnikovich said today in Minsk at the ceremony to award the best businessmen of 2012, Interfax West news agency reports.

The head of the government said the foreign loans would be spent on paying and servicing external debts.

“The government took a decision to limit foreign loans and use them mainly on paying and servicing the old debts. In the domestic economy, we have to cut our appetite and use what we have earned,” Mikhail Miasnikovich stressed.

The PM reminded 2014 would be the peak year of paying the country's external debt. “The expenditures on servicing and paying the debts will reach $3.6 billion. It's a big sum. But 2015 will be an easier year,” Mikhail Miasnikovich said.

He admitted loans for businessmen cost too much and promised: “The country's monetary policy will facilitate reducing the burden.”

“Many things were created artificially. Stirring tension by some groups and devaluation expectations encouraged people to buy dollars and led to lack of confidence in the national currency. I think we'll improve the situation,” the prime minister noted.