By the end of the year, only a few dozen enterprises in Belarus will have an average salary of less than Br500. This was stated on November 10 by Minister of Economy Dmitry Krutoy on the air of the Belarus 1 TV channel, according to BELTA.
Decree No. 401 "On the Parameters of the Socio-Economic Development Forecast of the Republic of Belarus for 2020" provides for the development of a plan of additional measures for economic growth. According to the minister, special attention will be paid to enterprises with low wages. Currently, there are about 470 organizations in Belarus where people earn an average of Br500 or less. "By the end of the year, the task is to maximally reduce the number of such enterprises, so that only a few dozen remain," noted Dmitry Krutoy. Systemic solutions will be adopted for organizations that cannot pay Br500-600, he emphasized.
In addition, in 2019, the government plans to address the situation at enterprises where the salary is below Br400. "There are nine of them left. We will fully resolve this by the end of the year," said the minister.
Dmitry Krutoy commented on some of the forecast parameters for 2020. Thus, GDP growth is planned at 2.8%. At the same time, international experts believe that this figure will be lower. As the head of the Ministry of Economy explained, they take the most negative, pessimistic scenarios, considering that Belarus does not yet have agreements with Russia for next year regarding the price of gas and compensation for losses from the tax maneuver.
The minister recalled that last week an IMF mission worked in the country. The parties exchanged data on the parameters of the monetary and financial spheres, and macroeconomic indicators. "I think they will publish a more balanced assessment of our economic growth in the near future," believes Dmitry Krutoy.
Belarus's exports are expected to increase by 3.6% next year. They will grow at an accelerated pace in terms of services. The IT sector will remain among the leaders. The growth rate of information services exports is planned at 110-112%. Transport is in second place - 104-105%. Education, healthcare, the financial sector, and tourism have great export potential. Currently, taking this into account, development programs are being created for them.