News & Events in Belarus

Call for raising Belarus’ GDP up to $100bn in next five-year term

MINSK, 2 March (BelTA) – During the next five-year term Belarus’ gross domestic product should reach $100 billion. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko gave the relevant instructions during the government conference on 2 March, BelTA has learned. During the conference the central government, the central bank, the oblast administrations, and the Minsk city administration informed the head of state about economy performance in 2017 and the tasks meant to ensure sustainable economic growth.

The head of state said: “In the next five-year term we should raise the GDP to $100 billion whatever the cost. Only that will allow us to pay salaries as large as $1,000 without sliding into the poverty trap. This is why today’s mood ‘I wish we could live to see 2025’ is unacceptable.”

At present the Belarusian government can boast a GDP of $54 billion although it was $67 billion in the previous five-year term, reminded the president. Export stands at $36 billion while it averaged nearly $45 billion in the previous five-year term.

The president is convinced that the growth of Belarus’ gross domestic product in 2017 was not fueled by domestic factors. “We have to admit it,” he said. Alexander Lukashenko went on saying that it was good that the government had been able to use the favorable external conditions among other factors.

In 2017 developed countries demonstrated a GDP growth of 2.3% while the figure reported by developing nations was 4.5%. “We are only weakly crawling forward for now. Didn’t they have a crisis? They did. Did anyone in Belarus embrace innovative technologies? Did anyone start making products with a higher added value? Did labor productivity approach European levels? Not a single person mentioned it today because we are not looking good in this regard,” stated the president.

The head of state remarked that the competitive ability of Belarusian products is not really getting better for now. Breakthrough technologies, new manufacturing enterprises, and innovation-driven development have been the buzzwords for the third five-year term in a row. “Meanwhile, we try to peddle the goods invented back in the Soviet Union to Europe. We may have improved their quality a bit and painted them differently. There are no sophisticated technologies. Only 15% of the employed Belarusians work in the medium technology sector and only 600,000 people can earn a salary of Br1,000 and more,” said Alexander Lukashenko.