During his August 11 visit to the Brest Region Alyaksandr Lukashenka said that in 2018, low-wage companies need to be boosted to the level of 1,000 BYN. Then the average salary in the country could reach 1,500 BYN. Experts have explained why it cannot be done and what an artificial increase in wages will lead to.
According to the economist Leanid Zaika, if you pull an enterprise with low wages to the 1,000 BYN level within a year, the production of such companies will rise sharply in price and become uncompetitive.
“Moreover, Lukashenka spoke about the average salary of 1,500 BYN in the country in the near future. It turns out that in five years, people in Belarus will get more money than those in the US. The growth rate is unrealistic. Lukashenka’s statements were untrue and were made in the style of North Korea’s late leader, Kim Il-sung. There it would be believable,” says Zaika.
The expert is sure that the promise of Lukashenka is a “publicity stunt” and compares it with a “jump off a bridge on a concrete freeway”.
Ex-chairman of the National Bank, Doctor of Economics Stanislau Bahdankevich explained why the state now has no resources for wage growth in the troubled enterprises.
“Increasing salaries would become real, if the state had a corresponding economic program designed for at least the next 5 years. First of all, it must include technical modernization of enterprises, replacement of old equipment with high-performance machines. It would require large investments, but there is no money. Earlier, Lukashenka used the Russian subsidies, but today they have considerably decreased. In addition, you need to repay the loans, foreign debt of Belarus is constantly growing,” says Bahdankevich.
Ex-chairman of the National Bank pointed out that if the wages do reach 1,000 BYN, within a month or two they will fall back to previous levels.
At the end of 2016, Belarus’ total debt to foreign creditors amounted to $ 13.5 billion. At the same time, our state is to return to Russia only $ 741.3 million. The average salary in the country, according to official statistics, is 819.3 BYN.
Katsyaryna Andeyeva, belsat.eu
