Belarus Macroeconomic Update : Achieving Stability and Growth

This note assesses recent macroeconomic developments in Belarus and presents a medium-term economic outlook for 2013-2016 in three scenarios. These scenarios are sensitive to underlying assumptions and are provided to illustrate the main macroecono...

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Main Author: World Bank
Format: Report
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/926481486995168511/Belarus-Macroeconomic-update-achieving-stability-and-growth
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26094
id okr-10986-26094
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-260942021-04-23T14:04:33Z Belarus Macroeconomic Update : Achieving Stability and Growth World Bank economic growth economic outlook structural reforms fiscal policy potash trade monetary policy bond market state-owned enterprises commodity prices This note assesses recent macroeconomic developments in Belarus and presents a medium-term economic outlook for 2013-2016 in three scenarios. These scenarios are sensitive to underlying assumptions and are provided to illustrate the main macroeconomic policy choices, available to Belarus. The first scenario (baseline scenario) assumes that the authorities continue macroeconomic policies of the past year, with alternating phases of policy loosening and tightening, motivated by attempts to balance growth and stability. The second scenario (expansionary scenario) assumes that the authorities pursue more aggressive expansionary policies (compared to the baseline scenario) to boost growth in the short term. Prioritizing growth at the expense of stability will reignite macroeconomic imbalances.The third scenario (sustainable growth scenario) assumes that the authorities put in place policies that ensure macroeconomic stability and provide a basis for sustainable growth. This includes a policy framework that (i) maintains the flexible exchange rate regime; (ii) sustains tight monetary policy, namely containing credit growth, including under government directed lending programs to contain inflation and real exchange rate appreciation; (iii) balances wage growth so that it does not exceed productivity growth; (iv) maintains tight fiscal policy and a balanced budget over the medium term. These three scenarios highlight the main macroeconomic trade-offs that Belarus is facing in the current environment. This note is organized as follows: Section one highlights recent macroeconomic trends; Section two provides the three macroeconomic scenarios; and Section three provides the Bank’s recommendations for macroeconomic and structural policies. Annex one outlines the structural modernization agenda that could support sustainable medium term growth. Annex two provides detailed assumptions, underlying the three scenarios. Annex three presents the results of simple sensitivity analysis of the potential impact of price declines in potash fertilizer. 2017-02-17T21:30:31Z 2017-02-17T21:30:31Z 2013-08-13 Report http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/926481486995168511/Belarus-Macroeconomic-update-achieving-stability-and-growth http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26094 English en_US CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Economic & Sector Work :: Economic Updates and Modeling Economic & Sector Work Europe and Central Asia Belarus
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
en_US
topic economic growth
economic outlook
structural reforms
fiscal policy
potash
trade
monetary policy
bond market
state-owned enterprises
commodity prices
spellingShingle economic growth
economic outlook
structural reforms
fiscal policy
potash
trade
monetary policy
bond market
state-owned enterprises
commodity prices
World Bank
Belarus Macroeconomic Update : Achieving Stability and Growth
geographic_facet Europe and Central Asia
Belarus
description This note assesses recent macroeconomic developments in Belarus and presents a medium-term economic outlook for 2013-2016 in three scenarios. These scenarios are sensitive to underlying assumptions and are provided to illustrate the main macroeconomic policy choices, available to Belarus. The first scenario (baseline scenario) assumes that the authorities continue macroeconomic policies of the past year, with alternating phases of policy loosening and tightening, motivated by attempts to balance growth and stability. The second scenario (expansionary scenario) assumes that the authorities pursue more aggressive expansionary policies (compared to the baseline scenario) to boost growth in the short term. Prioritizing growth at the expense of stability will reignite macroeconomic imbalances.The third scenario (sustainable growth scenario) assumes that the authorities put in place policies that ensure macroeconomic stability and provide a basis for sustainable growth. This includes a policy framework that (i) maintains the flexible exchange rate regime; (ii) sustains tight monetary policy, namely containing credit growth, including under government directed lending programs to contain inflation and real exchange rate appreciation; (iii) balances wage growth so that it does not exceed productivity growth; (iv) maintains tight fiscal policy and a balanced budget over the medium term. These three scenarios highlight the main macroeconomic trade-offs that Belarus is facing in the current environment. This note is organized as follows: Section one highlights recent macroeconomic trends; Section two provides the three macroeconomic scenarios; and Section three provides the Bank’s recommendations for macroeconomic and structural policies. Annex one outlines the structural modernization agenda that could support sustainable medium term growth. Annex two provides detailed assumptions, underlying the three scenarios. Annex three presents the results of simple sensitivity analysis of the potential impact of price declines in potash fertilizer.
format Report
author World Bank
author_facet World Bank
author_sort World Bank
title Belarus Macroeconomic Update : Achieving Stability and Growth
title_short Belarus Macroeconomic Update : Achieving Stability and Growth
title_full Belarus Macroeconomic Update : Achieving Stability and Growth
title_fullStr Belarus Macroeconomic Update : Achieving Stability and Growth
title_full_unstemmed Belarus Macroeconomic Update : Achieving Stability and Growth
title_sort belarus macroeconomic update : achieving stability and growth
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2017
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/926481486995168511/Belarus-Macroeconomic-update-achieving-stability-and-growth
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26094
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