The government of Belarus is determined to maintain inflation within 19-22% in 2012. The figure was included in the socioeconomic development targets, the budget and the monetary policy of Belarus for 2012, which were discussed at a session on 22 November, BelTA learnt from the presidential press service.

Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich told Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko that the inflation will be kept within 19-22% by pursuing a tight monetary policy and maintaining the stable exchange rate of foreign currency. He emphasized that monetary instruments and the internal pricing control will be the priorities of the manual control over economic development of the country in 2012.
According to the Prime Minister, the projections of the socioeconomic development, the budget and the monetary policy are aimed at sustainable and balanced economic growth taking into consideration the stabilization of the currency market.

The documents envisage cuts in final consumption spending and gross saving, which is expected to boost net export and eliminate the foreign trade deficit that had a negative impact on the exchange rate of the national currency.

The government suggests introducing the rule of thrift in the national economy. The material intensity is to be reduced by 3%. Gross output costs will also be reduced to encourage GDP growth and enhance the competitiveness of domestic products.

In January-September 2011, Belarus’ economy received $33.5 billion of foreign currency revenues that enabled the country to pay for imported products and settle debts. Mikhail Myasnikovich said that the export should be even bigger. Therefore, a target was set to expand the export by 10.6% in 2012. This is quite a challenge taking into consideration that Belarus is determined to strengthen the national currency and increase the share of industry in GDP to 34%, up 2.1 percentage points. The export revenues of the manufacturing industry are expected to make $7.5 billion. The government pins great hopes on woodworking, local resources and agriculture.

The Prime Minister noted that economic performance of companies is getting better. The face value of their net profits this year is expected to rise 2.5 times. The government believes that companies should manage their finances more efficiently and invest heavily in innovations. In 2012, the bulk of investments will be channeled into technologies, machines and equipment.

The government also suggested changing tax regulations in order to save companies another Br2 trillion to invest in their growth.

Belta