Belarusian Prime Minister Aleksandr Turchin chaired a meeting of the Council of Ministers on 19 August, BelTA has learned.
The agenda included drafts of the social and economic development forecast, monetary policy targets, and the national budget for 2027.
“We are holding a meeting of the Council of Ministers today to finalize the review of the package of forecast documents for 2027. I would like to remind you that we discussed these documents at a meeting of the Council of Ministers Presidium, where a number of comments and suggestions were made. I would like the speakers to report on how these comments and suggestions have been taken into account,” Aleksandr Turchin said.
The key focus of the annual forecast is meeting the targets of the current five-year plan Economy Minister Yuri Chebotar told the media. “The main goal is to ensure the fulfillment of all the priorities approved at the Belarusian People’s Congress. For example, regarding a comfortable living environment, this includes building up to 5,000 kilometers of roads per year. We are also placing strong emphasis on rental housing construction. For next year, we plan to increase rental housing construction and provide it to those in need, including representatives of high-demand professions. Support for the real economy remains relevant, and all our lending products to stimulate investment activity continue to operate. Tourism is also a priority. Together with the regions, we will develop indicators that encourage them to advance all areas of tourism - accommodation, services, museums, and so on,” he said.
The social and economic development program for Belarus for 2026–2030 was approved at the end of 2025. It was developed taking into account global growth forecasts and the situation among key trading partners at the time. “The situation changes dynamically every month. However, we will ensure the achievement of the program’s key targets. The most important thing is the quality of life and opportunities for people in our country. The government is ensuring all necessary parameters, including income growth. For next year, the projected growth in real incomes is about 3%,” the minister stressed.
He noted that in recent years, real incomes have been growing at an accelerated pace. “This is facilitated by increased labor productivity and the introduction of new organizational methods. We have high hopes for the effectiveness of the decree on robotization in terms of improving product quality, reliability, and labor productivity. All of this will contribute to improving the quality of life for our population,” the economy minister said.
For the development and competitiveness of the real sector, the investment agenda remains paramount. “We have planned a number of innovations for next year. First, accelerating the implementation of major investment projects. The current regulatory framework is already geared toward this. Presidential Decree No. 266 is in effect to ensure that facilities are built and commissioned faster. We will continue this practice and assign relevant tasks to ministers and governors to speed up the implementation of specific projects and the development of business ideas. Such tasks are included in our action plan for next year. In addition, our lending products for regional projects, tourism, robotization, and the production of new types of products in the dairy and meat processing industries are quite popular. All of this is really in demand today. And we are seeing significant investment growth in the real sector as a result,” Yuri Chebotar concluded.