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Thursday, April 18, 2024

Oil price slide forces Belarus to revise 2015 action plan

Belarus Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov

Belarus Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov said Monday that the government's goals for 2015 will shift from quantitative to qualitative results.

Kobyakov said drastic changes to the action-plan document are not planned, but that the government's focus will be in the assessment of quality figures as well as the balance between actual needs and the country's potential.

In regard to the drafting of the national budget, leaders had to revisit the plan multiple times as the price of oil factors into the nation's budget significantly.

“The situation needs adequate response measures from us; that’s why the government is looking into the possible development of the situation," Kobyakov said. "No one in the world can predict the final oil price, or further economic development in Russia and the CIS, as well as in the European Union, which also has its economic ups and downs. This points to the fact that we should take a very careful look at our budget expenditures.

“We are not talking about cuts in social spending of salary payment. Nevertheless, the things we can do later will be set aside.” The main thing for the new year is to secure balanced and continuous development of the Belarusian economy," Kobyakov said.