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Minsk, Oct 1 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko Monday said the state and government administration in the country will be downsized by 25 to 30 percent. "A commission to reform the power bodies is being set up in Belarus... I believe we will have to significantly reduce our state structures - around 25 to 30 percent," he said. The cuts will mainly affect "the top", eliminating superfluous functions and allowing an increase in civil servants' wages as a result, said the president, adding that the commission will be headed by presidential Chief of Staff Andrei Kobyakov. Wages will also be raised for security, law enforcement and military officers, he added. At the same time police powers should be expanded with a greater oversight and enforcement role, he noted. In 2011, a severe balance-of-payments crisis caused by excessive government spending in the run-up to the 2010 presidential election forced Belarus to accept tough terms of a Russian bailout package. Minsk, in return for about $5 billion in loans and investments, pledged to sell off its key assets such as gas pipelines, which were snapped up by Russia's Gazprom company. --IANS/RIA Novosti sd/dg
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