According to Rosstat, in March 2016, the average monthly wage in Russia totalled USD 504, which is 46% more than the average wage in Belarus. Compared with January 2016, wages in Russian have increased by 19%, and in some areas, they double Belarusian. If lay-offs persist in Belarus, Belarusians are likely to hit on the Russian labour market and increase the cash flow from Russia to Belarus. In addition, the Belarusian labour market is likely to see a reduction in foreign workers. Due to the financial health of most enterprise, and the need to cut costs, wages in Belarusian public sector are likely to fall behind the inflation. Pay rises may become available only to the highly skilled workers in order to preserve the country’s human resource capacity.
