Growth indicators

From strengthening the economy to enhancing the well-being of each citizen — how to achieve this and what global experience indicates

In the context of the transformation of the global economy, Belarus is demonstrating high rates of economic growth — ranging from 2.8 to 5.5 percent month-on-month from January to August 2024 compared to the previous year. We strive to catch trends and find our niches in the new realities of the global market, thereby ensuring our citizens have stable and well-paid jobs, which will improve their well-being. What is being done to develop the country?

Minsk Tractor Works          Daria Titova

Generating wealth

According to classical economist David Ricardo, for the last 400–450 years, humanity has been in a state of what can be referred to as the capitalist mode of production, where goods and services are produced not for self-consumption but for sale in domestic and foreign markets. Those countries that possess advanced technologies are the wealthy ones since they can meet domestic demand, reduce imports, and generate revenue from exports. The rules for generating wealth for nations have remained unchanged over the centuries (if we do not take into account the speculative economy, where gains on stock exchanges and other trading platforms are achieved through value manipulation of assets such as stocks, bonds, and their various derivatives, including cryptocurrencies).
Despite the complex current restructuring of the entire global economy, Belarus boasts high GDP growth rates. This is largely due to Belarus’ President Aleksandr Lukashenko, who constantly emphasises the necessity of developing domestic production capacities alongside significant investments in science and technology.
Over the past 30 years, our country has actively expanded the range of domestic goods and services. As a result, we have essentially achieved self-sufficiency in food, as well as both fast and slow moving consumer goods. Based on new technological solutions, we have continually improved our production lines, adapting and enhancing the products we manufacture, thereby maintaining and expanding our market shares, keeping pace with competitors, and earning good profits.

Going our own way

The renowned American financier, Ray Dalio, has recently published data assessing the annual economic growth rates of different countries over the past 10 years. The study considered 81 indicators, including labour productivity, education, and levels of debt obligations. The highest GDP growth rates are found in countries such as India (6.3 percent), the UAE (5.5 percent), Indonesia (5.5 percent), Saudi Arabia (4.6 percent), Türkiye (four percent), and China (four percent). The lowest GDP growth rates were in Germany and Italy (minus 0.5 percent).
The Republic of Belarus was not accounted for in this ranking; however, the World Bank’s data indicates that our country demonstrated high growth rates in 2023 — 3.9 percent.
According to estimates by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Belarus’ GDP is expected to grow by 4.2 percent this year. This is a positive trend. It is important to maintain this growth, which also involves the younger generation.
Along with that, the President stressed during a recent ceremony for the presentation of credentials by ambassadors that, regrettably, peaceful, prosperous, and sovereign Belarus causes irritation with some Western politicians, which turns into prejudice, “They consider it normal to have their one-sided outdated perception of the world order where there are first and second-class people. If someone disagrees with their point of view, they impose sanctions and various restrictions. Minsk has been facing such injustice for many years. Nevertheless, we take the courage to pursue independent domestic and foreign policies. We always defend our position based on international law and justice.”

Space for mutual benefit

In these challenging conditions of external pressure from the world’s power players, Belarus is successfully building its economic base — shops are fully stocked, there is no food shortage, inflation rates are low, and savings in the national currency among the population are growing. Citizens of our country are actively purchasing durable goods, the purchase of cars being an important indicator of citizens’ confidence in the future.
Last year, despite the illegal pressure exerted by Western countries on certain EAEU states, Belarus demonstrated high rates of development, as noted by Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko during a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council. Belarus’ trade turnover with EAEU countries increased by 7.4 percent over 11 months. Industry has become the main driver of the economy. Today, we look confidently to the future and know what needs to be done to ensure sustainable and long-term partnerships within the union.
It is clear that the sanctions policy of the collective West against sovereign states is unlikely to end in the near future. Therefore, we need to bolster our economic base focusing on attracting maximum investments and technologies from friendly countries, creating new products and services, and forming favourable conditions for the most convenient export regimes for our goods.

      

In fact, we need to support the popular formula Buy Belarus-Made Goods with several slogans: Invest in Your Homeland, and Export Belarus-Made Goods — meaning we must continue to pursue a policy aimed at expanding sales markets for domestic products and securing our position in the wealthy centre of the Eurasian space. This will provide us with the opportunity to develop the economy and improve the welfare of our citizens.

By Aleksei Avdonin, analyst at Belarusian Institute for Strategic Research (BISR)