Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Miasnikovich stated on January 11 that there wouldn't be any layoffs and unemployment surge in the country in 2011. According to the head of government, employment and social protection of the Belarusian people are ensured in the midst of the global financial crisis.
Speaking at a meeting of the presidium of the Council of Ministers to consider the draft state program for promotion of employment in Belarus in 2011, Mikhail Miasnikovich noted that unemployment rate, registered in Belarus, was only 0.7% of the economically active population under the conditions of the economy modernization. At the same time the figure is 7.9% in the UK, 9.4% in Poland, 13% in Lithuania and 9.2% in Russia, BelTA informs.
«The state must take care not just about employment, but also about high-employment labor. It’s necessary to provide qualitative indicators in addition to the quantitative ones,» the Belarusian Prime Minister.
Mikhail Miasnikovich also said that the number of the employed in the economy would be increased in 1.6 times without loss of productivity in the next five years. «We are talking about creation of one million jobs with added cost of $60 thousand per employee for purchasing power parity. This index is 2.45 times lower in Belarus today than the average in the EU. The rate of growth to be provided in Belarus in five years is in 2.6 times higher,» the Prime Minister said.
Belarus Plans to Create 175 Thousand Jobs in 2011, Miasnikovich
According to the draft state program for 2011, 175 thousand jobs are planned to be created. Most of them will be established in major cities and only a quarter — in small towns and rural areas.
According to Mikhail Miasnikovich, most problems are concentrated in towns with unstable enterprises, forming a company town. There should be regular monitoring in these locations since the labor market there depends on the activities of such enterprises.
In turn, Minister of Labor and Social Protection Marianna Shchetkina stated that over Br171 billion would be allocated for the implementation of state programs to promote employment of Belarus in 2011. The minister said most of the funds would be used to finance activities, related to the implementation of active employment policy measures.
