Inflation in Belarus by the end of 2010 will not exceed 10% - S.Sidorsky

July 27, Minsk / Lyudmila Sats - BELTA /. Inflation in Belarus will not exceed 10% by the end of 2010. This was stated by Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky today at a meeting of the Council of Ministers, according to a BELTA correspondent. "In the first half of 2010, the inflation rate was 4.1%, which is 1.8 times lower than in the same period last year. Therefore, there are all grounds to end the year with inflation below 10%," Sergei Sidorsky said and demanded that government bodies continue the relevant work to reduce inflation in the second half of the year. In general, summarizing the performance of the Belarusian economy for January-June of the current year, the Prime Minister noted that the planned levels were reached for most key parameters. Thus, the GDP growth rate for the first half of the year was 106.6% (against the calculated indicators of 106%), industrial output - 108.8% (106.2%), construction and installation works - 111%, retail trade turnover - 115%. "This is a good performance of the economy. But the most important thing is that we have achieved monthly growth dynamics. We are adding every month in terms of GDP growth and economic growth as a whole," Sergei Sidorsky emphasized. In addition to the results of Belarus's socio-economic development in the first half of the year and the problematic issues that require attention to achieve the forecast parameters in 2010, the meeting of the Council of Ministers discussed the draft decree on approving the most important parameters of the republic's socio-economic development forecast, the draft republican budget, and the draft Main Directions of Monetary Policy of Belarus for 2011.