OREANDA-NEWS. May 28, 2008. In May inflation in Belarus will not exceed 1%, Economy Minister of Belarus Nikolai Zaichenko said at a session of the Council of Ministers, reported the Official website www.government.by.

According to him, in January-April the consumer price index was up 5,3% while the projections for 2008 are at 8%. Foodstuffs accounted for 2,6% of the CPI increase. Nikolai Zaichenko said that that was due to the raising prices for foodstuffs and energy. Over the four months this year inflation in Russia reached 6,3%, in Ukraine 13,1%.

According to Nikolai Zaichenko, the Economy Ministry will continue implementing the measures taken by the government to restrain inflation.

The Economy Ministry suggests raising the first category wage rate to Br94,000 in October, Economy Minister of Belarus Nikolai Zaichenko said at a session of the Council of Ministers on Amy 27.

This proposal of the Economy Ministry is currently being studied by the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. This is going to be the first step on the way of reaching the goal which is to raise average wages to \\$700 in equivalent by 2010.

Nikolai Zaichenko said that increasing the wage rate is necessary for raising nominal average monthly wages to Br966,000 (\\$460 in equivalent) by the end of 2008. Real wages are expected to increase by 9,5%.

Real cash earnings were up 10,7% for the population in January-March. In January-February the growth was 12,9%. The reason is a higher than expected inflation. Real wages were up 8,3% countrywide.