Economy ministry forecasts GDP growth
Belarus Economy Minister Uladzimir Zinouski. Photo: BELTA
GDP is expected to increase by 2% in 2017 and by 3.5% in 2018, Minister of Economy Uladzimir Zinouski said. “The economy will reach the goals set in 2017 and the GDP increase rate will be ensured,” BELTA news agency quotes the minister as saying.
The production of industrial and agricultural goods will go up this year. There is also an increase in wholesale and retail trade, but there is a slight lag in construction, Zinouoski added.
It will be very difficult to reach a 3.5% increase in the GDP in 2018, Zinouski said. The economy needs to be functioning very well to provide decent wages, pensions and the increase in income, he stressed. “Our goal is to reach the normal rate in January, February and March so that we would not have to spend the second half of the year trying to catch up,” the official explained.
The government is counting on upgraded and new enterprises, he said. Orsha flax-mill, Kamvol and Svetlahorsk pulp-and-paper mill are among the enterprises the country pins its hopes in income generation on. All the conditions required to fulfill the set goals have been met in agriculture. Pre-requisites for the improvement of the situation in construction have also been created, according to Zinouski.
