Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 24 April (BelTA) – The Belarus president’s State of the Nation Address offers ways to develop the economy and civil society, Speaker of the Council of the Republic Mikhail Myasnikovich said at an open session of the upper house on 24 April, BelTA informs.

The head of state provided an exhaustive assessment of the events and trends in the world and in Belarus, offered ways to develop the economy, civil society, and nation-building as he gave the State of the Nation speech and answered the questions of the MPs, Mikhail Myasnikovich noted. “Staff, energy, financial market, intellectual resources, national unity, Constitution were among the matters that characterize the relevance of the Address,” he added.

The plans of the MPs should be aimed at the unconditional implementation of the president’s instructions, the speaker said. In particular, the MPs are to come up with well-balanced proposals on the participation of the upper house in the improvement of the national legislation, the work of the integration structures, administrative and territorial division, and territorial development. All ideas and proposals formulated in the Address should be put into practice to the fullest extent, Mikhail Myasnikovich underlined. He recalled the head of state urges the MPs to keep away from distorting the principle of economic efficiency when amending the codes and laws.

According to the speaker, the president noted the government and the National Bank are to reduce the debt load and enter the safety zone in the coming years. “We should dent the appetite for foreign loans,” Mikhail Myasnikovich noted. “As for the instructions given by the head of state regarding the foreign debt, they have received close attention in terms of the government debt and corporate debts, including those of banks,” the speaker pointed out.