Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko states that over the past two decades the national economy has doubled.
In this regard, the politician assigns a key role to the gross domestic product, noting its stable growth.
This is actually an integral indicator – one of the most important indicators – of economic development. In a flat model, GDP is growing – which means the country is developing, he said on the air of the Belarus 1 TV channel.
Builders and hairdressers
Golovchenko gave several examples. One of them is builders.
According to him, if these workers dig and then fill in a hole, they will receive a salary for both jobs, which means that the GDP will grow, but there will be no progress.
The second example is a male hairdresser who receives a monthly fee from a female client.
If a hairdresser marries a client, “GDP falls by the amount that the woman stops paying her husband for a haircut,” the head of government said.
And he added: GDP “can be accelerated” – many of the state’s available means are used for this: from increasing budget expenditures to liberalizing regimes, reducing taxes, etc.
However, such acceleration will not be effective if growth is accompanied by inflation.
Additional income will be eaten up by inflation, meaning people will not feel any improvement in their standard of living, the prime minister explained.
Numbers
Speaking about the growth of national GDP, Golovchenko noted: since 2000, it has increased 2.3 times, reaching 216 billion rubles in 2023.
That is, in 20 years our economy has doubled. And this year we are also ensuring growth above planned parameters, Golovchenko emphasized.
I particularly drew attention to the fact that the increase in GDP is accompanied by an increase in the income of Belarusians.
The Prime Minister recorded real growth in wages for working compatriots at 13%.
This is already adjusted for inflation, which is also currently within the forecast parameters, he said.
For reference
GDP (gross domestic product) is a macroeconomic indicator that reflects the market value of all final goods and services produced over a specified period in all sectors of the economy on the territory of a particular state, regardless of the nationality of the factors of production used.
