Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 5 December (BelTA) – The GDP growth is projected at least at 2% in 2017 and 3.5% in 2018, Belarusian Economy Minister Vladimir Zinovsky told the media, BelTA informs.

“Belarus will meet the 2017 economic targets including the GDP growth target,” he said. The industrial and agricultural output will grow by the 2017 year-end. There has also been an uptrend in retail and wholesale trade. The performance of the construction industry will be slightly worse than expected.

As for the 2018 goals, the 3.5% GDP growth is an extremely difficult task. “We need a well-performing economy to ensure proper salaries and pensions,” the minister underlined. “We set a task to achieve a proper growth rate straight away, in January, February, and March in order not to fall behind in H2,” he clarified.

According to Vladimir Zinovsky, every economic sector should see a growth in 2018. “The industry has already recovered from the recession. Our products are in demand in the world. We certainly need to produce and sell more,” the minister added. In this regard, Belarus relies on modernized industries and new companies. Some of them have good prospects, for instance, Orsha Linen Mill, the Kamvol textile maker, and Svetlogorsk Pulp and Paper Mill. All the conditions are in place to meet the performance targets in agriculture. The groundwork has been laid for improvements in the construction industry, too.

A package of documents on business liberalization was signed in 2017. An ordinance on licensing should be signed soon, too. The work is underway to adopt an ordinance on digital economy development. All these things lay the foundation for economic growth in 2018, the minister stated.

On 5 December, the Council of Ministers reviewed the current economic results of 2017, the expected results for 2017, and the forecast for January 2018