It is this category of consumers that actually represents the main subject of our economy, which forms the main demand for outputs from industrial enterprises, especially in the conditions when domestic producers gain domestic market share.
The higher the level of well-being of our citizens, the more effectively the country's economy will develop. It is a well-known fact: as the purchasing power declines, society has to re-orient its demands towards their reduction. The market capacity, therefore, also declines at the same time. And vice versa, an increase in the material status entails the emergence of new requests that work for the development of the economy. A wealthy citizen is a profitable customer both in a food store and in a store of home appliances and electronics. This is a person who uses his own car and can afford to build a house, which means that he forms a stable demand for outputs from oil refineries and construction factories. Right now it is important to protect an ordinary person in a changing economic environment.
The growing importance of the domestic consumer is evidenced by the fact that the demand for cargo transportation on the territory of Belarus in 2022 is up by 90 percent and continues to rise. It went up dramatically in the second half of the year. These are objective data from online freight exchange.
Yet, today we also note the troubling trends. It has, first of all, to do with the prices for replacement items. Automotive equipment, spare parts, motor oils are a vivid example of the speculative income drain which many citizens of the country have already faced in real life. Also, the outcomes of the year demonstrate definite problematics. They show that with the observed growth of trade activity within the country, the retail turnover of the Grodno region in January – November 2022 made 98.6% against the same period last year. The negative amount was almost Br85 million, despite the fact that the accrued average monthly salary in the region was up 14.6% by the end of the year against the previous year. What does this mean? An increase in the share of savings or a decrease in purchasing power? Of course, this issue requires studying and taking effective measures. Today, the well—being of Belarusian citizens is the number one task. The way we see it affects both the stability in society and further economic growth in the country.