OREANDA-NEWS. February 25, 2009. There are no problems with replenishing the revenue part of the state budget in Belarus, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko told media on February 24.

“No catastrophe has happened to the budget over the two months. There are even slight economic improvements,” said the head of state. If the budget and all the funds are considered, this year’s level is only Br200-300 billion lower than last year, he continued.

Alexander Lukashenko assured that the state will meet all social obligations set at the beginning of the year. Staying at the present performance level throughout the first half of the year is the key task. The President added that some money will be saved and some will be re-distributed.

In April the President intends to sum up the real sector performance in Q1 2009. “Then we will have some results, we will see tendencies. We will understand in what direction and at what speed we should advance. We will see how trends of the global crisis have affected our economy as a whole,” he said.

Speaking about the operation of Minsk Engine Plant, the President remarked that the crisis had slightly slowed down the company’s development. In 2009 the head of state wants the company to manufacture and sell 2,000-3,000 engines more than it did last year. He also mentioned great prospects connected with the company’s launch of Euro-5 engines production.

The President remarked that it is necessary to monitor the situation. If the global economy starts recovering fast, Belarusian manufacturers should respond to it quickly. He added, it is important to grab a market niche in a crisis.