MINSK, 12 July (BelTA) – In H1 2022 Belarus' foreign trade in goods and services had the best indicators since 2012 amidst the decelerating price growth, Economy Minister Aleksandr Chervyakov said at a meeting of the interdepartmental working group on drafting forecast documents for 2023, BelTA informs citing the Economy Ministry.
According to the Economy Ministry, in January-June, the GDP growth rate is expected at about 96%. The slowdown has been caused by structural changes, primarily in foreign trade. At the same time, the economic performance remains stable and balanced.
“Our flagship companies - MTZ, MAZ, BelAZ, Gomselmash, Atlant, manufacturers of building materials - have already formed a portfolio of orders for the second half of the year. Foreign trade in goods and services is balanced with a trade surplus of $1.7 billion in January-May. This is the best indicator since 2012. The price growth slowed down significantly. In March prices increased by 6.1, while in June - by 1.1.The financial performance of organizations considerably improved: their net profit and profitability increased, and the debt burden decreased. All this attests to the meaningful and balanced economic development. In January-May the average salary rose by 14.5% and reached Br1,561.The government fulfills its social commitments in full. Pension benefits, allowances and scholarships are paid in time. Thus, the tasks set by the head of state to mitigate the impact of sanctions for households and economic operators are being fulfilled,” the minister emphasized.
According to Aleksandr Chervyakov, the restrictions passed by the collective West and suspension of relations with Ukraine led to a complete restructuring of foreign trade.
“Today, enterprises are working to redirect their commodity flows from west to east and southeast, first of all, to Russia, China, the EAEU countries. We are addressing a number of tasks related to the supply of component parts, logistics, partners, and settlements. It takes time to do this and manufacturers have to slow down a bit in order to avoid overstocking. At the same time, many companies have already made significant progress in redirecting their exports. In January-May, Belarus increased supplies to Russia by 17% and to China 1.5 times. The drop in export (to Ukraine and unfriendly countries) was in many ways offset by increased export to other markets. This pertains to tractors, buses, trucks, spare parts, and so on. We will keep working consistently to adapt the economy to a new external environment. We expect the GDP to start recovering in the second half of the year,” the economy minister informed.
