Lukashenka promises to ‘eat heads off’ in case of price growth after redenomination

There will be no price growth in connection after the redenomination in Belarus, president Alyaksandr Lukashenka said on Friday.

“There will be no price growth in connection with the forthcoming redenomination in Belarus. I promise you this. We will eat their heads off if someone will try to take advantage of this technological process (this is a purely technical event),” state-run news agency BelTA quotes Lukashenka as saying.

According to the Belarusian leader, although it would be very tempting to slightly increase prices, this ‘will not happen’.

Video by BelTA

“We have agreed with the government that the prices will not be increased, even by a kopeck,” he stressed.

Lukashenka does not expect another loop of inflation after July’s redenomination.

Read also: Economist about denomination in Belarus: No sense in having kopeks as they depreciate fast

The first denomination of the Belarusian ruble was a 10-fold one and took place on August 20, 1994. A larger denomination was held on January 1, 2000. The currency then was denominated 1,000 times. The next denomination will take place on July 1, 2016 and will be the most ambitious to date. The old money will be replaced by the new designs in the ratio of 10,000 rubles to 1 ruble.

There will be seven types of bank notes (5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 rubles) and coins of eight denominations (1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 kopeks; 1 and 2 rubles) in circulation.

Belsat.eu, following BelTA