MINSK, 16 February (BelTA) – Belarusian Construction and Architecture Minister Anatoly Cherny voiced plans to build around 900,000 square meters of housing with government support in Belarus in 2018 at an off-site meeting of the Construction and Architecture Ministry on 16 February, BelTA has learned.
Around 4 million square meters of housing will be built in Belarus in 2018, including 900,000 square meters with government support. “We have the money to do this. We plan to allocate over Br645 million for these purposes, up 31.3% versus 2017 (including Br526m in line with Decree No.240). BPS-Sberbank and Belinvestbank have offered to add Br66 million to this sum,” the minister remarked.
Almost 3.8 million square meters of housing was commissioned in Belarus in 2017 with the help of all funding sources (108.4% as against the target). As many as 587,900 square meters were built with government support, with the target being 501,500 square meters.
According to Anatoly Cherny, curbing the rising prices in the construction sector was an important achievement. The average cost per square meter of housing built with state support made up Br784 at the end of the year, which beat the target by Br64. The cost of one square meter of housing became lower than the average monthly salary in the country (Br815.2). “Now, the ratio between the average salary and the cost of one square meter of housing is 0.96. This is a good indicator and it should be kept in 2018. Both local authorities and representatives of the construction industry should have it as a target,” he said.
In 2017, the share of the construction sector in the country's GDP increased from 4.6% to 5.3%. The volume of contract work also gradually increased last year. Anatoly Cherny underlined, however, that this was still not enough to restore the positions lost over the last two years. He also called upon the builders to increase the export of construction goods and services, stressing that this is one of the main goals for the industry in 2018.
