PM criticizes foreign recommendations for economic reforms in Belarus

Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko criticized the proposals for economic reforms in Belarus that come from abroad as he addressed the 6th Belarusian People's Congress in Minsk on 12 February, BelTA has learned.

“You can compare Belarus’ social and economic development program for 2021-2025 with the recommendations regularly issued by the theorists who are intensely keen to reform the Belarusian economy following the liberal templates of the so-called Washington consensus that has collapsed and defaulted more than one state,” Roman Golovchenko said. They continue to persistently slip us the same recipes demanding to minimize the role of the state in the economy, to launch large-scale privatization of state assets, open the market to unrestricted import of foreign goods."

According to him, among these proposals there are "even more exotic ones." One of them, for example, is to dissolve the Industry Ministry and the Ministry of Housing and Utilities. "This is the so-called program of economic reforms of the self-proclaimed government in exile," Roman Golovchenko said.

"Don't you have a reasonable question whether these advisers want a strong, economically sound Belarus? Or are we being prepared for the role of a supplier of workforce and a market for their goods. Is this economic neo-colonialism of sorts?" he added.

The prime minister stressed that the government has its own development plan for the country which is "aimed at building a strong economy and maximizing the resources available to ensure the country’s prosperity." To do this, the government plans to implement a policy of economic growth. It is based on stimulating domestic consumption and rational import substitution, increasing the income of the population, implementing state programs," Roman Golovchenko said.

The government intends to launch a new investment cycle. For that it is ready to reduce the risks and costs for investors, to create conditions for attracting long money into the economy, to develop infrastructure in all regions of the country.

Another priority is export. The export strategy envisages financial and institutional support tools for exporters of all forms of ownership.

The head of government noted that the program of social and economic development of Belarus until 2025 was widely discussed. According to him, some comments of economists and practitioners among those who criticize the government have been taken into account.

“Sometimes we make mistakes in calculations and decision. We go back, correct mistakes and move forward together again. This program is not a set of loud statements and populist slogans in the style of ‘happiness for all on the cheap’. This is a plan of hard and painstaking work, including based on our own mistakes. This program has been devised not be shelved. This is a program of action," Roman Golovchenko said.