MINSK, 15 January (BelTA) – The main goal of the state investment program is to build and develop the country’s engineering, social, manufacturing and defense infrastructure, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said on 15 January as he was receiving a report on the 2025 state investment program, BelTA has learned.
While making personnel decisions the day before, the head of state emphasized that he had not signed off on the state investment program and returned the draft decree to the government. “This is the most important document. I did not sign it. I returned it back to the government as usual. You send it to me again, and three or four people come to report to me. Those who prepared the program. Where's the alternative viewpoint? Are we going to build everything that is spelled out in the document? Is it worth investing in. I want a more thoughtful approach,” the head of state demanded the day before. “You should take it down a notch when it comes to the number of activities and people involved. We must focus on specific issues,” he added.
Taking part in the meeting to discuss the state investment program were senior members of the government and a number of ministries, as well as the Belarus President Administration, the Security Council, the State Control Committee, the Minsk Oblast Executive Committee and the Minsk City Executive Committee.
The president warned at the beginning of the meeting that the year 2025 will be challenging, no less challenging than 2024, for sure.
In this situation, it would be wrong to rely primarily on Russia’s market, Aleksandr Lukashenko believes. “The Russians are extremely cautious in their development forecasts: economic growth is projected within 1.5 - 2.5%, they expect double-digit interest rates, a growing budget deficit (more than RUB1.2 trillion),” the president noted.
At the same time, the Belarusian government is set to achieve GDP growth of over 4%. “Not bad,” the head of state said. There are plans to increase investments by almost 8%, which is seen as the main driver of GDP growth. Almost Br50 billion is to be utilized, which is approximately 18% of Belarus’ GDP.
“The government and the Belarus President Administration believe that the investment security threshold should be at least 20% of GDP. This is the only way to ensure economic growth going forward,” Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized. In this regard, an important question arose: how justified is this figure?
The president noted that the structure of investments remains virtually unchanged. It includes three key areas. The lion's share is spent on projects in the real sector of the economy (approximately 60% of investments). Housing construction accounts for about 20%. The third area includes engineering, transport, and social infrastructure (about 20%). “We finance these projects within the framework of the state investment program and similar regional programs,” the president specified.
About Br6.5 billion will be needed for these purposes from all sources of financing. The state investment program features top-tier projects worth Br2.2 billion, while more than Br4 billion has been earmarked for regional projects.
“The main goal of this program is to build and expand the country’s engineering, social, production and defense infrastructure. At the same time, the program should proceed from the realities on the ground when it comes to distribution of funds,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
The president warned at the beginning of the meeting that the year 2025 will be challenging, no less challenging than 2024, for sure.
In this situation, it would be wrong to rely primarily on Russia’s market, Aleksandr Lukashenko believes. “The Russians are extremely cautious in their development forecasts: economic growth is projected within 1.5 - 2.5%, they expect double-digit interest rates, a growing budget deficit (more than RUB1.2 trillion),” the president noted.
At the same time, the Belarusian government is set to achieve GDP growth of over 4%. “Not bad,” the head of state said. There are plans to increase investments by almost 8%, which is seen as the main driver of GDP growth. Almost Br50 billion is to be utilized, which is approximately 18% of Belarus’ GDP.
“The government and the Belarus President Administration believe that the investment security threshold should be at least 20% of GDP. This is the only way to ensure economic growth going forward,” Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized. In this regard, an important question arose: how justified is this figure?
The president noted that the structure of investments remains virtually unchanged. It includes three key areas. The lion's share is spent on projects in the real sector of the economy (approximately 60% of investments). Housing construction accounts for about 20%. The third area includes engineering, transport, and social infrastructure (about 20%). “We finance these projects within the framework of the state investment program and similar regional programs,” the president specified.
About Br6.5 billion will be needed for these purposes from all sources of financing. The state investment program features top-tier projects worth Br2.2 billion, while more than Br4 billion has been earmarked for regional projects.
“The main goal of this program is to build and expand the country’s engineering, social, production and defense infrastructure. At the same time, the program should proceed from the realities on the ground when it comes to distribution of funds,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
/More to come/
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