Business news

MINSK, 24 May (BelTA) – The International Finance Corporation (IFC) will allocate $100-120 million to Belarus by 2022 to further the development of its private sector, Alex Kremer, World Bank Country Manager for Belarus, said in an interview with the Belarus 1 TV Channel, BelTA has learnt.

The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, “has plans to grant about $100-120 million from now till 2022 to promote the development of the private sector,” Alex Kremer said.

In September 2017 the World Bank Group Board of Executive Directors endorsed a $60 million loan for the Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus to implement a new project “Expanding access to financing micro, small and medium enterprises in the Republic of Belarus”. “We will soon get down to implementing this initiative,” Alex Kremer said.

The results of the World Bank Group's Systematic Country Diagnostics in Belarus suggest that nearly half of Belarusian’ workforce is employed by the public sector. “The private sector accounts only for a third of the domestic economy. One of the primary tasks is to help the private sector grow and to assist the public sector in boosting its performance. It is encouraging to see understanding on the part of the Belarusian government. The president, the premier and the Council of Ministers want a bigger share of private business. Our aspirations coincide and we have teamed up to achieve this goal,” Alex Kremer said.

The World Bank will help Belarus raise the quality of social services, boost performance, improve infrastructure, etc.