Results of 2018 and plans for 2019: meeting with President on socio-economic development of Belarus

The President has listened to the report on the most important issues of the development of Belarus this year and the plans for 2019. The meeting was held at the Palace of Independence, where, among other things, draft forecast documents on the socio-economic development of Belarus were discussed.

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.

Incomes of Belarusians are growing. The average salary in October amounted to 999 rubles 70 kopecks in the country. In the real sector it is above a thousand rubles. Retirees receive timely support. 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.