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...

The year 2010 saw Belarus gradually being pulled out of cyclical recession owing to the revival of external markets and massive incentives provided by the economic authorities. However, the administration set itself a priority task of reaching ambitious GDP and income growth targets while...

This paper aims at visualizing adjustment mechanisms in the Belarusian economy to changes in exchange rate level. It is shown, that in Belarus a high pass-through effect from exchange rate to prices plays a crucial role. This effect stems from a high rate of financial dollarization alongside...

This paper deals with directed lending in Belarus and aims at selecting the best option for reforming it. The study visualizes main specific features of directed lending in Belarus and the channels of its impact on economic growth. Directed lending causes allocative inefficiency, lower capital...

This paper deals with economic policy in Belarus after the currency crisis of 2011. There was a trade-off between the desire of the government to soften economic policy given cyclical recession and high and volatile inflation expectations. In the first half of 2012, the choice was made in favor...

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...

This paper explores international experience of tax amnesties. Despite the popular use of tax amnesties, the results are mixed. The main advantage of the tax amnesty is the possibility to increase tax collections and improve tax compliance. However, it does not account for adverse effect of...

This study deals with Belarusian macroeconomic dynamics in 2013. The problem of poor growth potential remains important in 2013. Nevertheless, the progress in structural reforms was scarce, as the government was too optimistic in respect to inertia growth mechanisms. Hence, 2013 is likely to be...

Twenty-five years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Belarus stands out as a special case in transition blending, on the one hand, signs of relative prosperity, socially oriented policies and sprouts of entrepreneurships and, on the other hand, remnants of the communist past. The core of...