MINSK, 4 August (BelTA) – Belarus' economy keeps growing in the face of global crises and the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, Doctor of Science [Physics and Mathematics], Professor Mikhail Kovalyov told BelTA commenting on statements of some alternative presidential candidates.
The recent five-year period was not easy for the domestic economy. However, unlike Latvia, Russia and Ukraine where factories shut down, Belarus sought to keep companies afloat and they are still operating. The year 2020 was no exception. “The European Union member states saw a 15-20% drop in industrial output because of the consequences of the lockdown, while in Belarus the manufacturing sector shrank by merely 1.7%. Indeed, the entire world was on lockdown, which made it impossible to sell our products. As a result, warehouse stocks somewhat increased, which slightly affected the financial standing of our industrial giants. However, this is temporary,” Mikhail Kovalyov emphasized.
“Economies are opening up; our products are selling (the demand for them is growing, because foreign factories suspended operations because of the lockdown). Thus, Belarus' economy will not shrink by 6% by the yearend as it was predicted, but will break even or maybe will post some growth on the back of an excellent harvest,” the expert believes.
He noted that state-owned companies are doing pretty well, they have fewer debts than the private sector companies. “A slow restructuring of state-run companies is underway; the productivity is growing; therefore the number of employees in this sector is decreasing. At the same time, the private sector is expanding; foreign companies are opening and people go there. International organizations highly recommend building a powerful private sector, which is in fact happening,” Mikhail Kovalyov said.
The expert also commented on profits generated by companies. “They could be better, however loans are still rather expensive. However, the refinancing rate is going down,” he said. The expert believes that taking into consideration that the refinancing rate keeps falling and the inflation rate is projected at 5-6%, Belarusian companies will have a higher profitability rate than foreign ones that are firing more and more workers because of the coronavirus.
