The Belarusian economy will lose around $400 million in 2020 due to Russia's tax maneuver, Finance Minister Maksim Yermolovich said on Thursday
MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th October, 2019) The Belarusian economy will lose around $400 million in 2020 due to Russia's tax maneuver, Finance Minister Maksim Yermolovich said on Thursday.
"[Losses] will reach $800 million over two years: $400 million this year, and $400 million the next year," Yermolovich told reporters.
The Finance Ministry expects that the country's 2020 budget deficit will reach around 1 percent of its GDP, or around $500 million, he added.
According to the minister, Minsk plans to ask the International Monetary Fund next week to resume negotiations about a new assistance program.
Russia plans to gradually lift the export duty on oil and increase the severance tax by 2024. As a result of the maneuver, Belarus will have to bear additional costs, which Minsk estimates at $11 billion over the whole period.
