Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko considers the economic results of the work for 9 months of this year to be quite good, and the state of the economy is generally better than in neighboring countries. He said this, answering journalists' questions following the report to the head of state, BelTA has learned.

"I reported to the President on the results of the economy for 9 months. They are not bad, although the work is proceeding in rather difficult conditions. The process of recovering the world economy from the COVID-19 pandemic, unfortunately, is being delayed due to the onset of the second wave," the Prime Minister said. In general, the economy of Belarus feels, I would say, better than the economy of the region as a whole, also thanks to the well-thought-out and targeted measures to support economic growth that are being taken in the country. "

GOLOVCHENKO: THE LIST OF SOCIALLY SIGNIFICANT GOODS WILL EXPAND IN 2021 "Inflation of prices for food products is about 2.4% -2.5%. Some items are getting more expensive a little faster, but for most items prices either do not grow or, on the contrary, even go down, - said Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko.

Roman Golovchenko also presented the government's vision of the year's results to the President. "Of course, the task of reaching 100% economic growth is quite tense, it is necessary to find additional resources. Against the background of the decline in the economies of our neighbors, where by 4%, where by 5%, and where by 9%, to keep the pace at 100%, of course, difficult, but feasible under favorable circumstances. The government is determined to fulfill this task, "the prime minister said. He explained that such circumstances mean the absence of a complete lockdown and toughening of quarantine measures for the main trade and economic partners of Belarus. “We hope that the contraction of the economy will not be too strong, because we are very tied to foreign markets,” said Roman Golovchenko.

According to him, the GDP growth rate for the three quarters is comparable to the same period in 2019. “In fact, we see that the Belarusian economy has gotten out of a slight subsidence in the second quarter and is now quite steadily moving towards the goal of reaching 100% of GDP in relation to the level of 2019,” the Prime Minister stated.

He specified that such sectors as construction, agriculture, and financial activities demonstrate growth. "We managed to unload warehouses by actually half a billion," added the Prime Minister. "The balance of foreign economic activity is positive - $ 1.2 billion. It was mainly formed due to services. This is a good indicator." However, so far, according to the government, the service sector in health care, sports, and tourism is not actively developing.

As for reaching the forecasted inflation rate of 5% by the end of the year, the Prime Minister suggested considering any single-digit figure (that is, up to 10%) as a good result in the current conditions. In particular, he pointed to the fall in the rate of the Russian ruble and its impact on the prices of goods imported to Belarus, fluctuations in the exchange rate of the Belarusian ruble. “We are carefully looking at what is happening on the price market, and we are taking measures. But, of course, it is wrong practice to directly administer prices. There are positions that are controlled and regulated by the state,” Roman Golovchenko said.

At the request of journalists, the Prime Minister also spoke about the situation at the enterprises, where there were attempts to shake up labor collectives and calls for a strike. “Passions (about this. - BelTA note) only happen on certain information resources. They probably have such a task,” he said. “I can confirm once again that absolutely all enterprises - large and medium-sized ones - work in full-time mode, perform their tasks. Some I recently visited personally and was convinced with my own eyes that enterprises are working, fulfill production plans. Otherwise, as you, journalists know, a picture is glued or molded to create the illusion of the processes that are taking place. the enterprises are busy with their own business. "