Lukashenko: we have generally passed the economic stability exam

A meeting of the Council of Ministers – held at the Government House under the leadership of the President – was dedicated to summing up the results of the economy in 2022 and solving urgent tasks of socio-economic development in 2023

photo: www.president.gov.by

In the beginning of the conversation, Aleksandr Lukashenko reminded that the decision to hold the final meeting of the Council of Ministers in the form of a report to the Head of State was made in mid-2022. “We had difficult year 2022. As you know, there were attempts to pressure us in all directions, and key export industries, 40 percent of our traditional sales markets, transport and logistics corridors, and the system of bank settlements were affected,” the President addressed those present.

The Head of State pointed out the goals of those hostile actions, “Clearly, it is not just a desire to paralyse the Belarusian economy. This is a systematic attempt to deprive ordinary people of their livelihood and, as a result, to cause a social explosion that would raise the question of whether such a state as ours will remain on the political map of the world. As before, I responsibly declare: it [the state] will remain, and it will even get stronger. No one will be able to break us, as it has not been possible until now – neither economically nor politically.”

According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, in this difficult situation, the main task for the Prime Minister, the Government and the entire vertical of power is to ensure the efficient operation of the economy, the stability of the social and labour sphere and maintaining the welfare of the population.

“Everything is based on the economy – including the security, the fight against drones, bandits and terrorists. We will settle everything if the economy is functioning well. Throughout the year, we have held meetings more than once, we have worked out proactive and compensatory measures, assessed their effectiveness, and found windows of opportunity. Accordingly, we have gained tremendous development experience even in such unprecedented conditions. Therefore, it is possible to assert that we have generally passed the exam for economic sustainability. The Head of the National Statistical Committee will today report us on where we have worked better and where we could have demonstrated better results – giving us an objective assessment based on unbiased concrete figures,” the President summed up.