MINSK, 7 October (BelTA) - In the context of sanctions, the Belarusian economy has become adaptive and as flexible as possible, Belarusian Economy Minister Aleksandr Chervyakov said at a briefing at the Central House of Officers in Minsk on 6 October, BelTA has learned.
"For more than a year, we have been living under the massive economic pressure from unfriendly countries. Sanctions have been imposed on a number of our industries: aviation, potash, oil refining. In fact, the flagships of our economy are under attack. They are instrumental to a number of related industries not only in our country, but also in neighboring states, including those who imposed these sanctions on us. Such actions by Western countries and other states are unlawful and discriminatory. But they failed to bring us down,” Aleksandr Chervyakov noted.
The economy minister noted that Belarus has learned to adapt and work as flexibly as possible, taking into account the constantly changing external and internal environment. Despite the sanctions, last year the Belarusian economy expanded by more than 2%. According to Aleksandr Chervyakov, 2021 was one of the most successful years for the Belarusian economy in terms of foreign trade. The country had a surplus of $4 billion; the indicators of financial health of enterprises, net profit and wage growth improved. The labor market also recovered, and the unemployment rate was minimal.
"In 2022, we faced another challenge. The unprecedented intensification of sanctions is, in fact, a real economic war. This affected the above trends. Industries were subjected to logistics restrictions, faced difficulties with access to foreign markets and supply of components. We worked to ensure that enterprises do not stop, and households do not feel the impact of sanctions. It was our primary focus. The government reacted promptly, mobilized all efforts and resources. The operational-situational center at the government quickly adopted the necessary regulatory legal acts. The center worked 24/7. We collected information and promptly sent it there," the economy minister continued.
According to Aleksandr Chervyakov, this gave an appropriate result and allowed developing a set of measures to prop up the economy. The main task of all these measures was to minimize the impact of sanctions and costs for enterprises. This approach has helped the real sector to adapt quickly to difficult economic conditions. According to Aleksandr Chervyakov, the economy is developing steadily and is balanced today.
"We plan to grow. We have a targeted program that the government is implementing to reduce the sanctions pressure. Every month we will grow in relation to the previous one. All the measures taken by the government are aimed at this. Many enterprises have already redirected their exports to the markets of other countries, first of all, Russia and China. Our share in the Russian market increased from 5.5% to almost 8%. The maximum share of our exports in Russia's imports was 11%, so we have room to grow. Especially now, when many large companies have left the market," Aleksandr Chervyakov said.
The share of Belarusian exports has also increased significantly in the Chinese market. As a result, the real sector of the economy was able to ramp up the output.
