Belarus' 2016 budget performance is at 100.5% of the revised plan,
Belarus' Finance Minister Vladimir Amarin said at the final ministerial
board meeting on 16 February. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister
Andrei Kobyakov, BelTA has learned.
“Last year the national budget revenue totaled Br17.7 billion. The
performance of the revised plan on revenue made up 100.5%. The budget
expenditure stood at Br16.7%, or 96.5%,” noted the minister. The revenue
of the consolidated budget reached Br28.5 billion (100.5% of the
revised annual plan), expenditure – Br27.3 billion (97.1%).
Vladimir Amarin stressed that the measures taken to improve the tax
and monetary policies and balance out budget performance promoted
macroeconomic stability and preservation of gold and forex reserves.
2016 was a year full of unfavorable factors for a smooth budget
performance. They included a drop in prices for oil and potash
fertilizers, sales slowdown and worsened price conditions for the
products made in the country. In his words, the main risks to the budget
balance were directly related to a number of factors. “First of all,
poor foreign economic activity was behind a considerable reduction of
the budget revenue. The national budget lost Br1.3 billion in export
customs duties on oil and oil products, and the return on the potash
industry. Secondly, there was a need to increase some budget
expenditures, including on the family capital and subventions to the
social security fund to the total tune of more than Br1 billion.
Thirdly, the need to search for additional resources to pay off the
country's foreign currency debt. And, finally, the budget had to take
its part in debt restructuring of some GDP-forming agricultural
companies,” he stated.
According to Vladimir Amarin, the approaches worked out by the
Finance Ministry to balance out the national and local budgets were
approved by Decree No.78 of 23 February 2016. “The implementation of the
measures envisaged in the document allowed for reformatting the budget
without any inflation growth. As a result, the budget received more than
Br380 million of additional revenue through the increased excise taxes
on fuel and tobacco products, higher VAT on telecommunication services,
and the repeal of tax privileges on passenger transportation,” he said.
In 2016 the country honored all its commitments in the social sector
and also those to pay off the public debt. The surplus of the national
budget made up Br1 billion.
Written by belta.by
