On 6 July President Alexander Lukashenko signed Decree No 371 ‘On Concessional Consumer Lending’.

The purpose of the document is to boost state support for low-income families in Belarus.

In accordance with the decree, eligible for concessional, or low-interest loans are the families whose average monthly aggregate income per family member over the three months preceding the loan application date is lower than the average three-month per-capita minimum consumer budget of a four-member family (as of now, this figure amounts to Br1.130,8 million).

Low-interest loans will be issued by OAO Savings Bank, Belarusbank, Balagroprombank, Belinvestbank, and Belpromstroibank for the period of up to three years at the annual interest rate of 10 per cent.

The state undertakes to make up for the banks’ losses caused by issuing this type of loans.

The adoption of the decree will make it possible to provide more state support to the low-income segment of the population, which is a real step towards strengthening the social security of the Belarusian citizens.