Russian media: Belarus chose catastrophe

• 27.09.2012, 9:47

Belarus is expected to have serious and tough talks with Russia on oil and gas this winter.

Belarus held “parliamentary elections” on September 23,. None of opposition members became member of the “house of representatives”. The authorities, who were generous to give pre-elections promises, now loosened the reins. It became obvious in the first post-election week that Belarus will not avoid a new wave of economic crisis, Russian utro.ru writes.

People again rushed to buy foreign cash after the “elections”. News agencies inform that dollars and euros began to disappear from currency exchange offices again. A correspondent of utro.ru in Belarus confirms this information. People say foreign cash became deficit in small exchange offices in Brest, Homel, Vitebsk and a number region centres. Queues can again be observed near exchange offices like 18 months ago.

Leanid Zaika, an economist from Strategy analytical centre, explains wages were increased ahead of the “elections” for not grounds. Having no confidence in future, people hurry to convert national money to foreign currency while the National Bank does not want to spend its forex reserves to keep the Belarusian ruble stable. The Belarusian ruble experiences growing pressure. Zaika forecasts a slow but stable increase in the dollar rate. The dollar now costs 8,600 rubles, but the expert does not rule out the cost may amount to 10,000 rubles per dollar by the end of the year.