World Bank suggests measures to expand Belarusian Government’s plan to secure balanced and sustainable economic development
Belarus’ Economy Minister, Nikolai Snopkov, has announced that Belarus is ready to take systemic and productive measures to promote long-term expansion. The World Bank’s Vice President for Europe and Central Asia, Laura Tuck, recently visited Belarus, agreeing help from the World Bank.The Economy Minister is hopeful that World Bank experts will help Belarus plan a system of measures to support enterprises in making structural change: aiding their efficiency. He notes that it will take some time to see results but promises to carry out measures ‘accurately, consistently, and calmly, without causing any misbalance in the economy or society’.
The Belarusian Government adopted an action plan to secure balanced and sustainable economic development in August, via short-term and long-term measures. Mr. Snopkov explains that they are ‘analysing obstacles’ to our country’s economic growth, as well as ‘gaining understanding of the reasons and drawing conclusions’. He asserts, “We need to understand what must be done to stabilise growth and make it acceptable in the medium term.”
World Bank experts will be working with the Economy Ministry to establish a special organisation promoting small and medium-sized enterprises in Belarus. According to the Minister, a conceptual strategy has been developed and is ‘a priority for our work with the World Bank’. The organisation will oversee subcontracting and guarantee loans for businesses, offered on preferential terms, thanks to a 40m Euro investment loan from the World Bank. The Minister adds that the organisation will operate as part of the new Belarusian Fund for the Financial Support of Entrepreneurs.
With support from the World Bank, a new long-term development strategy is being prepared in Belarus for small and medium-sized businesses, encouraging entrepreneurial activity.
