MINSK, 22 June (BelTA) – Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko named the reasons for the economic slowdown in Belarus in 2011-2015 at the 5th Belarusian People's Congress on 22 June, BelTA has learned.
“We must acknowledge that the period from 2011 to 2015 was a difficult one. Not all the plans were fulfilled. What happened in the past few years? What are the reasons for the slowdown? The gross domestic product of the European Union fell in 2013. The economic growth of our main partner, Russia, slowed down. All that limited Belarus' ability to boost its export and output. This is the main reason for not hitting some of the forecast targets,” Alexander Lukashenko noted.
In his words, there were new global and regional challenges in 2014 and 2015. The sanctions war between the European Union and Russia, and geopolitical instability near the Belarusian borders had a negative impact as well.
Alexander Lukashenko said that the recession on the markets of Russia and Ukraine reduced the trade turnover with Belarus. As a result, Belarus faced the growth of the backlog of inventory, the decrease in foreign currency revenues, and other negative consequences.
“In these conditions we had to become modest and to economize. At the same time, many countries with higher income and economic growth do not have such social packages as in Belarus. Yes, we have raised prices and tariffs. We have become more active on external capital markets, are making prompt decisions, sometimes even in a manual mode, to diversify export. These solutions are not easy,” the President said.
