MINSK, 28 April (BelTA) – The World Bank expects Belarus' real gross domestic product to go down by 3% in 2016 and by 1% in 2017, BelTA learned from Kirill Gaiduk, an economist at the World Bank, during the presentation of a new economic review of Belarus on 28 April.
The World Bank representative said they expect Belarus' real GDP to lose 3% in 2016 and 1% in 2017 due to the weak foreign economic environment and internal structural problems.
Kirill Gaiduk pointed out that despite the measures taken to toughen the macroeconomic policy for the sake of overcoming recession and reducing the deficit of the current account the demand for external funding remains high in Belarus.
As far as investments are concerned, the World Bank expects their slump to slow down in 2017, with weak positive dynamics expected in 2018. Kirill Gaiduk explained that the expectations are based on the implementation of directive-based lending programs, the restructuring of state-run enterprises and other domestic decisions instead of the improvement of external conditions.
The World Bank's latest economic review of Belarus reads that future-oriented economic reforms may contribute to higher productivity and employment growth.
In November 2015 the World Bank's economic review read that Belarus' GDP growth would resume in 2017. “The slump will continue in 2016 but at a softer pace — 0.5%. We expect GDP growth to resume in 2017, however, the growth will be insignificant and limited to 1%,” the World Bank representatives were quoted as saying back then. On the whole, forecasts for 2016 and 2017 were uncertain due to dynamics of oil prices and the economic situation in Russia and Ukraine.
The World Bank was established in 1944 and is headquartered in Washington, USA. The Bank comprises five organizations: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Development Association, the International Finance Corporation, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, and the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes. The World Bank has over 120 representative offices all over the world. Belarus became a World Bank member in 1992. Since then the country has borrowed nearly $1.9 billion. Apart from that, a number of programs received support funding via grants. The current investment portfolio includes nine projects worth a total of $998 million.
