Fiscal Environment Review-2023

Fiscal policy in Belarus supported economic activity in 2023 with a budget execution surplus. In 2023, the consolidated budget was executed with a surplus of 1.1% of GDP. Budget revenues grew by 4.6 percentage points of GDP due to high growth in domestic demand and foreign trade volumes, and growing transfers from Russia. Budget expenditures grew by 1.9 percentage points mostly because of increased spending on wages and debt servicing. Spending increased faster than trend rates, and fiscal policy supported economic activity. In 2024, fiscal policy will remain expansionary, and the consolidated budget will be close to equilibrium or have a small surplus.