31 March, Minsk /BelTA correspondent/. Financing of social programmes in Belarus will not be reduced, as announced today to journalists by the Minister of Economy of Belarus, Nikolai Snopkov, BelTA reports. The head of the Ministry of Economy noted that the Head of State has set a task to revise state programmes, taking into account a 50% reduction in their financing. "The Government and the Ministry of Economy are not talking about reducing social programmes; we are talking about reducing lending and financing for programmes in the real sector of the economy," the minister clarified. According to him, purely social programmes, of which there are about 50 in Belarus, do not represent a significant financial burden on the budget, accounting for only 14% of the total programme financing. -0-

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