Lukashenko sacks Belarus central bank chief

President Alexander Lukashenko on Monday sacked the head of the Belarussian central bank, the presidency said, amid an economic crisis that poses the biggest test of his 17 year rule. National Bank of Belarus chief Pyotr Prokopovich was "relieved of his duties," the official Belta news agency quoted a decree signed by Lukashenko as saying.
The bank has repeatedly hiked interest rates in a bid to grapple with the economic crisis that has sparked spiralling inflation, a massive currency devalution and forced the government to put price controls on some key goods.