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Households’ payments for utilities will increase together with their income, Lukashenka says

The share of households' payments in financing the costs of the utilities provided to them will be increasing along with the rise in the population's income, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said Tuesday, speaking a large group of Russian journalists.

"The government's policy regarding utilities is changing," the Belarusian leader said. "Today about 70 percent of the costs of utilities is subsidized and about 30 percent is paid by the population and this percentage will be increasing. But people's pay should first be increased."

According to Mr. Lukashenka, in 2012, average real pay in Belarus is expected to rise by at least 11 percent. However, he noted, Belarus' average pay is more than twice lower than that in Russia. This is because there is a wider gap between the rich and the poor in Russia than in Belarus, he explained. //BelaPAN