The Prime Minister of Belarus, Andrei Kobyakov, has made a speech on the state of the Belarusian economy.

He also proposed solutions that his government will carry out to bring the country back to growth.

In his speech at a participation session of the Council of Ministers yesterday, he said it was the job of the government and the central bank to bring stability in times of economic uncertainty.

Kobyakov commended what he said was Belarus’ timely and full payments of its foreign debts. He added that the government prioritised the payment of the principal from surplus government funds.

Regarding trade, the Prime Minister stated that the country had its best performance in 15 years. He said that the country’s trade surplus was $1.2 billion over the first nine months of the year.

However, he said that despite some excellent economic indicators, GDP has dropped by 3.7% in the first nine months of the year. Industries suffering in particular include; the construction industry and the country’s important timber industry.

Kobykov listed three economic priorities to bring growth back to Belarus. Firstly, not to increase foreign debt. Secondly, inflation must be kept under control and finally, focus should be put on exports and investments for growth. He implied that if Belarus takes care of these factors, everything else will take care of itself.