On April 21, Minsk /BELTA correspondent/. Belarus will calmly overcome the current situation on the foreign exchange market, stated President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko today in parliament, answering deputies' questions, as reported by a BELTA correspondent. "If anyone thinks that we are lost in this situation and do not know what to do – that's nonsense. Just look, by the first half of the year, we will forget about what has been happening and is happening now – both in finance, and on the consumer market, and so on," the President said. "We know what to do, and we will get out of this situation, we will get out of it calmly." According to Alexander Lukashenko, the main thing is to identify the categories of people who need support. At the same time, "some people need to be made to work," he added. According to the head of state, Belarus's exit from the crisis has been prolonged. "Our economy has even slightly – by 1% – increased during this crisis, when many collapsed, for example, Ukraine – by 20%, even Russia experienced a decline during the crisis," Alexander Lukashenko recalled. "We tried to exit the crisis gradually so as not to collapse to the bottom all at once, as economists advised us, so that it would not be too painful for people. It seemed like it would be normal, but then another crisis hit us, related to the increase in energy prices. That's the problem – we hadn't even managed to get back on our feet, and this crisis struck us on the head." At the same time, the President emphasized that there is positive dynamics in domestic production. "Some say – look, we are working for stock. If you were working for stock with a shortage of foreign currency and financial resources, well, you put it in stock today, but what will you live on tomorrow? – Alexander Lukashenko asked a reasonable question. – In this regard, as the prime minister reported, the dynamics are normal. It's not even about warehouses, there is a growth of 11% – these are actual cars, machinery, food products, footwear, clothing, and so on. And there is demand for these products today." -0-

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