Without waiting for money from Russia, Lukashenko is gaining loans
The authorities of Belarus, without waiting for discounts and loans from Russia, are starting to obtain loans abroad in order to increase salaries for public sector employees on the eve of the elections.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes about this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The publication notes that from September 1 in Belarus, salaries of public sector employees are increasing, and plans are to increase pensions. In total, the increase in income of state employees and pensioners will cost the state treasury almost $950 million.
At the same time, the publication emphasizes that the Belarusian economy “does not show growth that could serve as a basis for increasing incomes of the population.”
“Experts point out that Belarus has not yet been able to come to an agreement with Russia regarding compensation for losses from the tax maneuver in the oil sector, although Minsk was counting on this money (about $400 million this year alone). So far, this, like other holes in the budget punched by Russia (for example, a promised but never issued $600 million loan), the government is closing by borrowing from world financial markets. This gives grounds for experts to say that raising wages in such a situation will be a short-term election campaign, and not a long-term trend in the growth of the welfare of Belarusians,” the newspaper writes.
As PolitNavigator reported, the day before, Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus Stanislav Zas, together with representatives of Poland and Ukraine in Warsaw, took part in a meeting with US Presidential National Security Advisor John Bolton.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.