In an address that introduced the new chairman of the board of the National Bank, Pavel Kallaur, last week, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said the financial market needs to be enhanced.

During the address, the president suggested investments, rather than bank loans, as a means to improve the country's financial health.

"This is one of the ways to tie the money of people," Lukashenko said. "Both enterprises and the state benefit from this. Instead of applying to banks for loans, a company can issue bonds, collect money and invest it in its own development.”

The president said fraud should be prevented through strict regulatory control and by improving the financial literacy of the country's citizens.

The president suggested that the central bank should cooperate with the government to implement financial literacy measures.

The president suggested enhancing the nation's cashless-payment system to make for smoother financial transactions. He also stressed the need to be prepared for the upcoming Eurasian Union's development of a common payment system, to be used among its member states.