Opinions & Interviews

Belarusian economic situation remains under control despite pandemic

Roman Golovchenko. An archive photo

BORISOV, 8 July (BelTA) – The situation in the Belarusian economy is under control despite the coronavirus pandemic. Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko made the statement as he talked to workers of OAO Borisov Plant of Automotive and Tractor Electrical Equipment (OAO BATE), the managing company of the holding company Automotive Components on 8 July, BelTA has learned.

Roman Golovchenko said: “If we talk about the overall situation, I can’t say it is absolutely joyful, that we are easily handling it, but it is controllable.”

The prime minister drew attention to the difficulties countries and the enterprises that have stopped producing have to deal with in the post-quarantine period. “While our GDP in January-May was 1.8% below projections, these figures are way bigger in the Russian Federation, countries of the European Union,” he said. “These figures can be compensated for somehow by tapping into state budgets, some reserves if there are any, natural resources that can provide a certain safety net. We don’t have such reserves. We can spend what we make with our own hands and brains.”

Roman Golovchenko stated that some economy branches demonstrate growth even amid the pandemic and allow avoiding a rapid decline of the GDP. Those are agriculture, civil engineering, information and communications. “They grow despite the crisis background. Housing construction helps us well. This year some 8,500 large families have already started building homes using state support. This figure will become substantially larger next year. Some 15,000 families will be able to count on such an opportunity then,” he explained.

The head of government described the consumer market situation as rather stable. “Prices for goods have not surged because the government rigorously regulated them, including prices for socially important goods,” he stressed.

Roman Golovchenko is convinced that future development of the country as a whole and of OAO BATE in particular depends on how well everyone does their job. “These are the small bricks that make up the overall result however trivial it may sound. The overall effect will be determined by how effectively every one of us does the job,” he concluded.

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