New minimum consumer budget sizes approved in Belarus with a 9.2% increase

April 25, Minsk /Elena Prus - BELTA/. The minimum consumer budgets in March 2011 average prices have been established in Belarus for eight socio-demographic groups of the population. These standards will be in effect from March 1 to July 31 of the current year, the Department of Complex Problems of Socio-Labor Sphere Development of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection informed a BELTA correspondent. The per capita minimum consumer budget for a family of four from May 1 of this year will be Br524,770 per month (the current standard from February 1 of this year is Br480,690). The new minimum consumer budget for a family of four has increased by 9.2%. This is due to the growth in prices in the first quarter for food products, manufactured goods, as well as the increase in tariffs for housing and communal services, household services, transport services, preschool and cultural services, the ministry explained. As a reminder, the per capita minimum consumer budget for a family of four serves as the basis for determining citizens' eligibility for preferential loans and subsidies for the construction (reconstruction) or acquisition of housing. The main expenditure items of the per capita minimum consumer budget for a family of four in March 2011 prices are as follows: food products - 55.9%, clothing, linen, footwear - 18.1%, housing and communal services payments - 9.5%, furniture, cultural, household and utility items - 6.7%, household services, transport, communication - 5.6%. The per capita minimum consumer budgets for a young family of three - Br549,680, the working-age population - Br671,680, pensioners - Br536,160, students - Br512,320, children under 3 years old - Br413,310, children aged 3 to 6 years - Br511,950, and children aged 6 to 18 years - Br586,230 have also been approved. According to specialists, in accordance with the legislation, the minimum consumer budget represents the expenses for purchasing a set of consumer goods and services to meet the basic physiological and socio-cultural needs of a person. The minimum consumer budget is used as a social standard for forecasting changes in the living standards of the population, strengthening social support for citizens in need, and forming a system of national economic proportions and priorities that ensure the gradual approximation of citizens' consumption to scientifically based levels. -0-