Belarusian Government definitely intends to keep Republican budget ‘in the black’
By Yevgeny Konovalov
This trend in the economy and financial market follows on from last year, with further positive forecasts predicted. The House of Representatives of the National Assembly has now approved a report from the Ministry of Finance on the execution of the last year’s budget.
Despite a difficult macroeconomic situation, unpopular anti-crisis measures have allowed the Government to execute the budget with a surplus. The country earned more than it spent last year: 54 and 52 trillion Belarusian Roubles, respectively.
This year, the Government plans to keep the budget ‘in the black’, significantly reducing its external borrowing and fulfilling its debt obligations. At the beginning of the year, Belarus’ internal public debt was Br17.9 trillion (with a determined limit of Br18.7 trillion) while external debt rose to $11.8bn (with a determined limit of $13bn). The Minister of Finance notes that the level of external debt is set relative to GDP; already, this year, the state will have to pay $1.6bn of foreign debt.
However, our deputies are more concerned about rising local budgetary debt. The Government’s position is firm: the regions should strive to earn more, while limiting their debt to prevent the growth of bad debts.