MINSK, 9 June (BelTA) – Reducing the inflation should remain the key monetary priority objective in 2016, Belarusian Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov said at a meeting of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers on 9 June. The ministers discussed the conceptual basis of the social and economic development forecast for 2016, the main guidelines of the budgetary and fiscal policy of Belarus for 2016 and the medium-term financial program for 2016-2018, and the approaches to setting the guidelines of the monetary policy for 2016, BelTA has learned.
“Cutting down the inflation should remain the top priority of our monetary policy in 2016. Our medium-term strategic goal is clear. We want to reduce the consumer price index to below 10%. This will lay the foundation of sustainable and balanced development of the Belarusian economy. Our second goal is to increase the national gold and forex reserves. We should use all the monetary policy tools to achieve these goals taking into account all the internal and external factors,” Andrei Kobyakov stressed.
He recalled that the Belarusian Economy Ministry, the Finance Ministry, and the National Bank prepared and submitted to the government a number of conceptual suggestions regarding the development of the forecast of Belarus' budgetary, fiscal, and credit policy for 2016. “Today we are discussing this package of documents for the first time. I want to emphasize that the forecasts should meet the following criteria: they should be balanced and consistent and aimed at the strategic goal of enhancing the quality of life and welfare of people,” the Prime Minister stressed. In his words, the implementation of systematic measures will help achieve economic growth and preserve the existing balance. “Besides, now it is also very important to produce a correct estimation of the initial conditions of the economic development of Belarus. First of all, I mean the foreign economic conditions. We know from our experience that this task is not a simple one as the global economy changes very fast,” Andrei Kobyakov stated.
As for project financing in 2016, he noted that it is necessary to investigate the sources of financing including the loans from the People's Republic of China, to minimize costs and provide money only for top-priority projects. “Our decisions should be based on the conceptual principles we have chosen for ourselves: to keep within our means and avoid increasing the external debt,” Andrei Kobyakov stressed.
“The high cost of loans remains a burning issue for our manufacturing industry. In this light, the National Bank should continue encouraging banks to conduct a balanced lending policy and provide relevant credit support, but not at the expense of the macroeconomic stabilization,” the Prime Minister emphasized.
Andrei Kobyakov said that the work on draft conceptual proposals regarding the development of the forecast of Belarus' budgetary, fiscal, and credit policy should be finished in July. “While working on the forecast, we should also finish the development of the state investment program, the plan of financing the state programs, the foreign exchange balance and present them in one package,” the Prime Minister noted.
“Cutting down the inflation should remain the top priority of our monetary policy in 2016. Our medium-term strategic goal is clear. We want to reduce the consumer price index to below 10%. This will lay the foundation of sustainable and balanced development of the Belarusian economy. Our second goal is to increase the national gold and forex reserves. We should use all the monetary policy tools to achieve these goals taking into account all the internal and external factors,” Andrei Kobyakov stressed.
He recalled that the Belarusian Economy Ministry, the Finance Ministry, and the National Bank prepared and submitted to the government a number of conceptual suggestions regarding the development of the forecast of Belarus' budgetary, fiscal, and credit policy for 2016. “Today we are discussing this package of documents for the first time. I want to emphasize that the forecasts should meet the following criteria: they should be balanced and consistent and aimed at the strategic goal of enhancing the quality of life and welfare of people,” the Prime Minister stressed. In his words, the implementation of systematic measures will help achieve economic growth and preserve the existing balance. “Besides, now it is also very important to produce a correct estimation of the initial conditions of the economic development of Belarus. First of all, I mean the foreign economic conditions. We know from our experience that this task is not a simple one as the global economy changes very fast,” Andrei Kobyakov stated.
As for project financing in 2016, he noted that it is necessary to investigate the sources of financing including the loans from the People's Republic of China, to minimize costs and provide money only for top-priority projects. “Our decisions should be based on the conceptual principles we have chosen for ourselves: to keep within our means and avoid increasing the external debt,” Andrei Kobyakov stressed.
“The high cost of loans remains a burning issue for our manufacturing industry. In this light, the National Bank should continue encouraging banks to conduct a balanced lending policy and provide relevant credit support, but not at the expense of the macroeconomic stabilization,” the Prime Minister emphasized.
Andrei Kobyakov said that the work on draft conceptual proposals regarding the development of the forecast of Belarus' budgetary, fiscal, and credit policy should be finished in July. “While working on the forecast, we should also finish the development of the state investment program, the plan of financing the state programs, the foreign exchange balance and present them in one package,” the Prime Minister noted.
