Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 5 December (BelTA) – The government expects that Belarus’ GDP will grow by 2% in 2017 and by 3.5% in 2018, Belarusian Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov noted at the session of the Council of Ministers which reviewed the economic results of 2017 to date, the expected results for 2017, and the forecast for January 2018, BelTA informs.

Andrei Kobyakov stressed that there is less than a month left till the year-end. This is not enough to change the situation dramatically but there is a chance to improve the results where needed.

The results of social and economic development in January-October 2017 have recently been reviewed in a meeting with the head of state. “According to statistics, we stay in line with the forecast for the key economic development indicators. Somewhere the results are even slightly better than expected. We project the economic growth in 2017 at 2%, which is above the target of 1.7%,” the prime minister noted.

The growth of real income and FDI net inflows are slightly below the target. As for real income, the expected growth rate should be reached in 2017 and should total at least 101.3% by 2018. In January-September 2017, Belarus attracted $905 million in FDI on a net basis (the target being $1.3 billion). Regional governors estimate that this figure should reach the forecast of $1.4 billion by the year-end (give or take $20 million). There is a risk that Brest Oblast, Vitebsk Oblast, and Minsk will not meet the goals, the Economy Ministry says. Andrei Kobyakov gave an instruction to present a report on the situation at the year-end and on the measures taken to attract the expected volume of FDI.

On the instruction of the government, the Economy Ministry, all the ministers and governors outlined the expected results of sectoral and regional development for the period up to 2018 and for January 2018. Taking these estimates into account, the Economy Ministry submitted related proposals on performance targets for the nearest future.

The current situation in the construction industry will be discussed separately at today’s meeting. There are still many problems in this sector, the prime minister stated.