Almost 84.3 thousand jobs were created in Belarus in January-June

July 23, Minsk /Elena Prus - BELTA/. In Belarus, 84,275 jobs were created in January-June of the current year, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection informed a BELTA correspondent. This is 48.1% of the annual target, and in total for 2010, 175.3 thousand new jobs are to be created in the republic. Minsk leads in the number of jobs created - 14.7 thousand people have been employed in the capital, but the annual target fulfillment is only 42.5%. The highest indicator is in the Gomel region (51.5%), where almost 12.4 thousand jobs have been created. In small towns of Belarus, 16,056 new jobs were created in six months (63% of the annual target), and in rural areas - 11,012 jobs (62.9%). According to specialists, job creation is a very important aspect for normalizing the situation in local labour markets. In Belarus, employers are allocated budget loans for job creation - according to operational data, 1,131 people in total across the republic have been employed using these loans in January-June of the current year (target for 2010 - 2,610). In the first half of the year, employers were compensated for the costs of purchasing specialized equipment for job creation and employment of 60 disabled people (plan for 2010 - 218). The ministry emphasized that budget loans should be used to create more jobs for the employment of citizens with additional guarantees in employment promotion.