BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

2005-12-15

Belarus passes 2006 budget, raising wages and pensions

www.chinaview.cn

MOSCOW, Dec. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- The Belarus parliament has passed a 2006 budget which uplifts the wages and pensions, according to reports reaching here from the Belarus capital, Minsk.

The budget, which sets a deficit of 1.5 percent of gross domestic product, the same as this year, was backed by 104 deputies in the 110-seat lower house. No one voted against.

"On the whole, we have a good result," Finance Minister NikolaiKorbut told reporters late on Wednesday after the vote. "When working on the budget, we planned for maximum gross domestic product growth of 8.5 percent."

The budget calls for lowering some local taxes. Total spending amounts to 12.4 billion US dollars, with 11.8 billion in revenues,a 2.5 billion increase in spending and revenue compared to this year's levels.

The economy of the former Soviet republic is still run along Soviet-era command lines, with the government maintaining controlsover most prices and telling companies what to produce.

This year the government targets 8.9 percent growth. But the International Monetary Fund has forecast the economy will grow by up to 7.1 percent in 2005 against 11 percent last year.

President Alexander Lukashenko has said he saved his 10 millionpeople from transition shocks that have jolted other ex-Soviet states.

The Belarus economy depends heavily on developments in neighbouring Russia, its main trading partner.

Source:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-12/15/content_3927412.htm