|
Excerpts from the Report “Belarus: Poverty Assessment. Can
Poverty Reduction and Access to Services Be Sustained?”
One of the more affluent republics of the Soviet Union, Belarus recovered
GDP growth relatively rapidly after the initial economic shock associated
with independence, reduced poverty levels significantly, maintained wide
coverage of basic education and health services, and achieved this without
gross exacerbation of inequality. The policy framework in place has been
successful in maintaining living standards and reducing poverty better than
in several transition economies. (p.xv)
The performance-enhancing reforms in education, health and social
protection, which Belarus has embarked on, are in the right direction. The
aim of these reforms is to enhance the effectiveness and quality of these
services. (p.iii)
The poverty reduction and inequality performance of Belarus is impressive.
Belarus has already embarked on a number of reforms to support these
objectives, especially in the last 2-3 years and especially in terms of
institutional reforms to its education, health and social protection service
delivery and financing systems, and the reduction in the generalized,
untargeted utility subsidy for households. (p.ix)
In
2001, among managers of organizations or their deputies, 40.7% were females.
This is a very high indicator of female representation among the top layer
of management, compared to most other countries in the world. (p.9)
Belarus’ poverty monitoring and analysis system has potential to be a “good
practice” for the region. (p.iii)
Belarus can be justly proud of the elaborate system of social services it
provides to its population. The ability of households to access quality
education, health and social protection services makes a large difference to
their living standards in the present, and their prospects for the future.
(p.76)
Poverty reduction
Over the last years (1997-2002), poverty has fallen substantially in
Belarus. (p.iii)
Sustained growth, coupled with a relatively stable income distribution,
succeeded in reducing absolute poverty headcount from 39.4% in 1997 to 18.5%
in 2002. (p.19)
The largest dent in poverty was archived during 1997-98, triggered by high
growth rates (real GDP grew by 11% in 1997, followed by another 8% in 1998).
Unlike the other countries in the region, Belarus succeeded in maintaining a
small positive growth during the Russian crisis in 1999 (3% in real terms),
which preserved poverty reduction gains during that difficult year. (p.11)
In
2002 the poverty headcount ratio was 18.5%, witch is less than half of the
1997 level. The dent in other measures of poverty was even greater: extreme
poverty headcount fell from 19% to 7% during the same period. (p.iii)
Compared to other transition economies, Belarus has one of the lowest
poverty rates at the lower regional line of $2.15 per capita per day. At a
higher poverty line, Belarus is in the middle of regional distribution.
(p.iv)
Social protection, wages, pensions
The social protection system is almost universal, covering about 4 in 5
persons. Pensions are found to be the most adequate benefit, in part because
of a strong policy of indexing pensions to real wages. Child allowances are
also found to provide adequate protection. (p.61)
The social programs are regulated by at least 100 laws, 11 ordinances and 70
decrees by the President of the Republic of Belarus, over 900 resolutions by
the Government, about 50 regulatory acts by ministries, and over 60
decisions by local governments. (p.62)
More than 14% of GDP or 31% of the consolidated budget expenditure in 2004
were channeled to social assistance and insurance programs. (p.61)
Real wages more than doubled in the last 7 years. (p.vi)
The level of wage inequality in Belarus is not very high by FSU and CEE
standards. (p.28)
Partially the rapid growth of real wages in the second half of the 1990s
“compensates” for a sharp decline in wage levels in the early transition
years. Wage costs in total expenditures have also increased: in the economic
sector the share of wages increased to 14.2% in 2001. In construction, a
labor intensive sector, the share of wages in total expenditures increased
from 20.8% in 1999 to 24.6% in 2001. (p.27)
Belarus’ coverage of the population with pensions is the same as in Poland,
Hungary, Romania or Bulgaria. (p.63)
Education
The education sector in Belarus in the 1990s shows relatively stable and
high gross enrollment rates (GER) at the preschool and basic education
levels. The preschool 2000 GER of 65.6% is higher than Russia’s and
Latvia’s, Poland’s, Ukraine’s and Lithuania’s. For basic education, the 2000
GER of 95.4% implies near universal enrollment in the compulsory basic cycle
and is above the 2000 rates in Russia and Ukraine. (p.35-36)
Belarus formally launched a multi-pronged reform of its education system in
1996 (completion planned for 2010). The reform impacts schooling duration by
reducing the school entrance age and extending the compulsory educational
cycle. The reform seeks to promote foreign language instruction in general
secondary education, and increased availability of computers in schools. The
reform encourages the establishment of new educational establishments at the
general secondary level, known as lyceums and gymnasiums. (p.39)
In
Belarus over the period of 1999-2001, the share of education expenditures
relative to GDP increased from 6.4 to 6.8% with a concomitant increase in
education’s share of total public expenditures from 16.9 to 19.0%. By
comparison, in 1999, OECD countries spent (on average) 5.2% of GDP and 12.7%
of total public expenditures on education. Belarus’ spending on education is
high if compared to most of its neighboring countries as well: in 1999,
public expenditures on education in Russia amounted to 3.2% of GDP, in
Poland 5.1%, in Ukraine 3.7%. (p.41)
Health
Belarus shows some of the best health indicators in the region and an
extensive coverage of health services, which are mostly subsidized. (p.49)
Belarus has one of the highest numbers of doctors per population in Europe
and Central Asia Region. (p.55)
Belarus’ health care resources are distributed in a way, which provides
relatively god access to health care services across all socioeconomic
groups. (p.57)
Total expenditures in health account for 5% of GDP, while this is below the
government’s target of 7.5%, it is much more than that spent in other
transition countries. In fact, Belarus spends about US$ 83per capita and
ranks among the highest in the ECA region. (p.56)
Belarus’ health expenditures per capita are higher than in Ukraine ($54), or
Moldova (36$). (p.57)
Overall health expenditures are progressive, in the sense that the poor
benefit relatively more than the better off (23 and 18%). (p.57)
In
Belarus, besides two exceptional and important problems – TB and AIDS –
infectious diseases are not growing as fast as in other CIS countries due to
the relatively better maintenance of the health network. (p.51)
The country has one of the lowest infant and under 5 mortality rates, lowest
maternal mortality rates, and almost universal immunization rates. The
decline in the IMR since 1996 reflects the introduction of multi-level
perinatal care. (p.49-50)
|
