Strengthening the country's economic potential will increase social support for families - N.Yermakova

December 16, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. The implementation of the socio-economic development plans of Belarus for the next five-year period will make it possible to increase the state's financial resources and direct them to support families. Chairperson of the Board of OJSC "ASB Belarusbank", head of the public organization "Belarusian Women's Union" Nadezhda Ermakova expressed confidence in this to a BELTA correspondent. She took part in the unified information day "Belarus - a social state: main development results in 2006-2010" in Vitebsk. Families with three children will be able to pay only a quarter of the cost of an apartment, and families with four or more children will be able to receive free housing as early as next year, believes Nadezhda Ermakova. The socio-economic development program of Belarus for the next five-year period, approved by the IV All-Belarusian People's Congress, provides for a radical modernization of all sectors of the economy, the creation of new science-intensive, high-tech industries and the development of import-substituting ones. This allows us to count on the fact that the country will have financial resources to help families acquire housing. "Money can only be earned. If we work better, if our economy develops, then there will be enough money for these purposes," Nadezhda Ermakova is confident. The head of Belarusbank recalled that in Belarus, families with three children currently pay 50% of the cost of built housing, the state pays off the remaining loan amount and interest on it; families with four children pay a quarter of the cost of housing, and for families with five children, the state pays off 100% of the loan and interest. In addition, the state provides subsidies so that, in addition to the loan, families also receive additional funds. "The system of assistance to large families in acquiring housing exists and works," she added. Over the past five-year period, more than 17,000 large families in Belarus have improved their housing conditions. In 2010, Belarusbank issued preferential loans to the population for housing acquisition totaling Br5.8 trillion. -0-