The sky-rocketing inflation is to be blamed on a monetary policy of the government, thinks Anton Boltochka, a Belarusian economist. „The printing machines are working continuously. Since the beginning of the year, the authorities have printed billions of Belarusian rubles on a monthly basis. The money mostly goes to state-owned companies and as a welfare to various social groups. Currently, the inflation has reached the level of 74.5% – and this is just a beginning.“ – Boltochka told Belsat in an interview.
The economist thinks that the Belarusian authorities are not ready to implement a radical economic reform and this is why they chose to increase amount of rubles, which inevitably had to lead to decrease of ruble value and price hikes. The food prices went up by 18% just in September, according to data presented by Boltochka. He believes that Belarus is still to face another wave of inflation, which – he believes – might reach even 100%.
„So far the price increase was limited through administrative methods. It’s like inflating a balloon – at some point it will have to explode, and this will result in a sudden drop of ruble’s value.“ That’s why he believes it’s high time the money printing was put to an end. Instead, currency rates should be subjected to free market rules. „It won’t be easy, however ruble‘s value will have to drop sooner or later.“
Despite authorities‘ attempts to stop ruble from dropping, the dollars price continuous to go up. Currently, one dollar is worth 8 thousand rubles.
Belsat
