President receives report on economic issues of Belarus

The results of this year and the plans for 2019, the most important development issues of the country were considered at a meeting in the Palace of Independence, where, among other things, draft forward-looking documents on the socio-economic development of Belarus were discussed. These are the draft budget for the next year, changes in the Tax Code and the draft guidelines for monetary policy from the National Bank. Not only representatives of economic departments were present, but also governors. The requirement of the President is to take all risks into account and define new growth points as much as possible. All these factors should be paid attention to when preparing new forward-looking documents.

At the end of the year, the Head of State has a lot of questions to the government. Unresolved issues, such as the dependence of exports on one market, personnel problems and ineffective enterprises, create new ones in 2019.

The meeting was devoted to the main trends of the Belarusian economy, scenarios of confronting external challenges and creating conditions for investment against the background of the already familiar trade wars and IMF forecasts about the likelihood of a new global financial crisis. The requirement of the President is to take into account the risks and identify new growth points. All these factors should be paid attention to in new forward-looking documents.

At the end of the year, the economy is growing in almost all sectors. There is relative price stability. The current monetary policy pursued by the National Bank is fully consistent with the expected inflation. The leadership of the National Bank has a plan of what measures to take for economic growth next year, how to level external risks and maintain low inflation.

The average salary in 2019 is expected at the level of at least Br1025. Salary in the public sector should be at least 80% of the average wage, that is, at the level of Br820. The government also plans to continue the approximation of the minimum wage and minimum consumer budget in 2019 so that from January 1, 2020 these values caught up. According to our today's estimates, the minimum wage from January 1, 2020 will be Br377.

At the request of the President, state support for the real sector of the economy will be reduced by 10% next year. These funds will be redirected to capital budget investments, public support.

The leadership of the National Bank also has a vision of what measures to take for economic growth in 2019, how to level external risks and maintain low inflation.

Next year's financing of such socially important areas as health, education, sports and culture was discussed as well. Recently, a lot of discussion has been around the updated Tax Code. The President demands to finalize the document.