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04 December 2019, 13:17

Lukashenko warns against increasing pay-productivity gap

MINSK, 4 December (BelTA) – The pay of workers should rise in tandem with productivity, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with Minsk Oblast authorities on 4 December, BelTA has learned.

“Although the average pay exceeds Br1,000, it should keep rising, in particular, in Vileika District, Berezino District, Kopyl District, Myadel District and Volozhin District,” the head of state said.

In his words, Minsk Oblast, just like other regions of the country are facing the

decoupling of wages from productivity. Productivity rose 5%, although the pay increased 9%. “This year alone the pay and productivity gap rose by nearly four percentage points. The overall gap stands at over 13 percentage points. We need to come to grips with this issue as soon as possible,” the Belarusian leader said.

It is also important to eliminate delays in salary payment. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, as of 1 November 2019, such delays were reported in three organizations and amounted to nearly Br2.5 million. “Once we told people and I also told them on your behalf that we will increase the average pay up to Br1,000. We have done it. However, now we need to take care of lowest-paid workers, like nurse's aides, nurses, kindergarten workers. We raised their salaries little by little throughout the year, but this is not enough,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The Belarusian leader emphasized that in some cases workload should be increased so that salaries and pay rises are commensurate with the work done. “You need to increase the workload and pay additionally,” the head of state said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko pointed to the deterioration of the payment discipline. Nearly a quarter (22%) of the region's organizations have past-due debts. This year such debts rose by 3%. “This is detrimental to the regional economy. It is obvious that there are some fundamental problems in the financial sector. These problems should be addressed first and foremost. Let us see what we will get at the end of the year. Keep in mind that there is not a single reason for such a situation in the financial sector,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

There are negative trends in foreign trade, first of all, trade in services. The growth in the import of services outpaced the growth in the export of services six times. This led to the sharp increase in trade deficit. “It amounted to $56 million. This situation is unacceptable. This is huge money for our market,” the head of state noted.

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