OREANDA-NEWS. January 23, 2013. Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko has pledged to sustain a stable exchange rate of the Belarusian ruble without any artificial adjustment.

“The National Bank and the government have been instructed to avoid any sort of restraining, as things may go out of control. We have been just trying to compensate for wide swings,” Lukashenko told a press-conference.

The Belarusian ruble will remain stable in the near future, the president promised. “There was no apocalypse either last year, or on January 1, and there will not be now,” Lukashenko assured.

The head of state was surprised to know that pensioners had been the most active procurers of foreign cash from banks.

In early January 2013 the National Bank of Belarus was there to refute allegations about plans to devaluate the local currency.