Belarus’ Economy Ministry plans to recoup economic decline at the expense of agriculture, food industry
<p> MINSK, May 22 - PrimePress. The Economy Ministry of Belarus plans to recoup the economic decline through the sustainable work of agriculture and the food industry, said Economy Minister Alexander Chervyakov. </p> <p> </p> <p> As previously reported, Belarus’ gross domestic product decreased by 1.3% year on year in January-April 2020 to Br41.092 billion ($17.2bn at the rate of the National Bank of Belarus). Industrial output was down 3.8% year on year in Jan-Apr 2020 to Br35.25 billion ($14.8bn). Farm output grew by 5.2% year on year in Jan-Apr 2020 to Br3.992 billion ($1.7bn). </p> <p> </p> <p> “At present we are taking all measures to ensure a full recovery of the economy by the end of the year. The government is working on a set of appropriate measures. There is a task to prevent economic decline,” Chervyakov said in an interview published in the state-run Respublika daily. </p> <p> </p> <p> “Our forecasts and calculations were made on the assumption that the quarantine measures at our trading partners will last about three months. Now that many countries have started quarantining, the closing period has actually decreased to one month. In this regard, we estimate that negative trends will prevail in May and June, and starting from July, the economy as a whole will begin to recover. And the fact that our country has not gone into quarantine played a significant role here. Otherwise it would have been much harder to “rev up” the economy,” said Cherviakov. </p> <p> </p> <p> In his words, the Economy Ministry also expects that the oil refining industry will get fully restored, taking into account the agreements on oil supply. “There are no problems in the work of the construction complex. There are certain concerns about the production of machinery and equipment, but I think that the use of public procurement contracts, the promotion of exports and domestic consumer will allow us to safely pass this period,” Chervyakov said. End </p> <p> </p>
2020-05-23
Primepress
Belarus’ Economy Ministry plans to recoup economic decline at the expense of agriculture, food industry
MINSK, May 22 - PrimePress. The Economy Ministry of Belarus plans to recoup the economic decline through the sustainable work of agriculture and the food industry, said Economy Minister Alexander Chervyakov.
As previously reported, Belarus’ gross domestic product decreased by 1.3% year on year in January-April 2020 to Br41.092 billion ($17.2bn at the rate of the National Bank of Belarus). Industrial output was down 3.8% year on year in Jan-Apr 2020 to Br35.25 billion ($14.8bn). Farm output grew by 5.2% year on year in Jan-Apr 2020 to Br3.992 billion ($1.7bn).
“At present we are taking all measures to ensure a full recovery of the economy by the end of the year. The government is working on a set of appropriate measures. There is a task to prevent economic decline,” Chervyakov said in an interview published in the state-run Respublika daily.
“Our forecasts and calculations were made on the assumption that the quarantine measures at our trading partners will last about three months. Now that many countries have started quarantining, the closing period has actually decreased to one month. In this regard, we estimate that negative trends will prevail in May and June, and starting from July, the economy as a whole will begin to recover. And the fact that our country has not gone into quarantine played a significant role here. Otherwise it would have been much harder to “rev up” the economy,” said Cherviakov.
In his words, the Economy Ministry also expects that the oil refining industry will get fully restored, taking into account the agreements on oil supply. “There are no problems in the work of the construction complex. There are certain concerns about the production of machinery and equipment, but I think that the use of public procurement contracts, the promotion of exports and domestic consumer will allow us to safely pass this period,” Chervyakov said. End