Financing of state programs in Belarus will be reduced - Ministry of Economy

July 15, Minsk /Lilia Krapivina - BELTA/. Financing of state programs in Belarus will be reduced. This was stated today by Anton Dolgovichny, Head of the Main Department of Macroeconomic Analysis and Forecasting of the Ministry of Economy, at a meeting of the Republican Club of Directors of the Kunyavsky Business Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers, a BELTA correspondent reports.

The ministry's position is to bring the economy to balanced development, said Anton Dolgovichny. In these conditions, the financing of state programs should also be balanced. "All programs are tracked in the Ministry of Economy, but when we say they need to be reduced, we hold meetings, coordinate," noted the head of the main department. According to the representative of the Ministry of Economy, "with these programs, we have taken money that could have gone to business, to effective projects." Now the ministry is trying to optimize this process so that state programs do not hinder the development of the economy.

According to Anton Dolgovichny, price regulation is also ineffective. "Price regulation is ineffective even in the medium term, it kills competition and can lead to losses," he said. Belarus has long been ready for the liberalization of pricing, but these actions were taken at a not entirely opportune time, believes the ministry representative. He also noted that it is necessary to achieve a single exchange rate for the Belarusian ruble in the near future. "If we continue the macroeconomic policy, there should be free access to foreign currency at the rate that will develop," he stressed, adding that actions should be such that there are no peak fluctuations - 5% per day, but the rate cannot be held. "This can be done for a month, but no longer, otherwise the economy will be squeezed," said Anton Dolgovichny.

Speaking at the meeting of the Republican Directors Club, the Permanent Representative of the IMF in Belarus, Nataliya Kolyadina, also believes that the goals of establishing a single exchange rate can be achieved by reducing lending to state programs. In this situation, it would be natural to leave the financing of programs on market terms. Nataliya Kolyadina also noted that the IMF is not against wage increases, but "excessive increases should not be allowed."

According to her, it would be desirable for the adaptation to the new conditions in Belarus to proceed faster. It is important for businesses to receive new opportunities and conditions for work. And enterprises that previously did not feel or see the need for reforms should become more economical. In this situation, Nataliya Kolyadina believes, price liberalization will help enterprises adapt their business. The ruble should be valued by the market, and domestic prices will be determined by demand in the future.

Price liberalization will help take an important step: Belarus's costs will correspond to the costs of competing countries or will even be lower. This will contribute to the promotion of Belarusian enterprises in the market, emphasized the Permanent Representative of the IMF in Belarus. -0-