The study deals with a specific form of financial repression peculiar to Belarus – a mechanism of directed loans. Under selective or directed credit programs, banks are required to allocate certain percentages of their asset portfolios for loans to priority sectors at subsidized loan rates of...

This study analyzes the effects of directed lending upon total factor productivity and GDP growth in Belarus over the period of 2000-2012. In theory, directed lending can enhance physical capital accumulation and make the access to credit easier, but empirical studies often show that it leads to...

Belarus experienced rapid economic growth in the 2000's, which abruptly came to halt after 2008. The authors found that the major source of growth was capital accumulation, while growth in total factor productivity (TFP) was modest. Moreover, government interventions and controls on the capital...