Summer months have been a period of growth for the Belarusian economy - S.Sidorsky

August 25, Minsk /Lyudmila Sats - BELTA/. Summer months have become a period of recovery for the Belarusian economy. This was announced today by Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky at a meeting with Marek Belka, Director of the European Department of the IMF, according to a BELTA correspondent. "We note with satisfaction that the spring-summer period of the current year (these months are the most challenging for the economy) has become a period of recovery for the Belarusian economy," the Prime Minister said. This applies primarily to the real sector of the economy. According to Sergei Sidorsky, since the beginning of the year, warehouse stocks of Belarusian enterprises have significantly increased due to the closure of many markets. At the same time, this has allowed Belarus to open 13 new countries for the supply of domestic products in the last six months. "Since May-June, all products manufactured in the country are sold in full abroad. Warehouses are gradually being cleared. We are confident that step by step, by the end of the year, we will reach anti-crisis conditions and norms for product stocks in warehouses," the head of the Belarusian government noted. In addition, under the current conditions, Belarus managed to ensure investment growth of over 10% in the first half of 2009 compared to the same period last year. Primarily, foreign investments were attracted into new technologies. "We have proposals from European and Russian banks to inject investments into our economy and modernize our production facilities," Sergei Sidorsky reported. He also added that no investment program has been curtailed in the country. The Prime Minister recalled that, in agreement with the IMF, Belarus is pursuing a tight monetary and fiscal policy, within which experts from the National Bank and the Ministry of Finance of Belarus are working with IMF specialists to achieve agreed indicators. Sergei Sidorsky noted that budget expenditures in Belarus have been significantly reduced. "The government is only working on those items that are necessary to fulfill the government's obligations," he emphasized. "We are actively working on inflation. In January, a decision was made to increase tariffs, which led to an increase in inflation, but in recent months we have managed to stabilize these processes. Inflation at the level of 0.3-0.4% per month is the level that the government planned in the anti-crisis program. At the same time, such stabilization is occurring with economic growth, attraction of investments, and a significant reduction in budget expenditures," explained Sergei Sidorsky. Overall, according to the head of government, the Belarusian side is satisfied with the progress in resolving and discussing issues with IMF experts, as well as with the fund's support, especially in the context of the global financial crisis. "The IMF's support has a significant impact on us, especially in conditions when the economies where we have consistently been present with exports, our traditional sales markets, are significantly shrinking," the Prime Minister added. He thanked the IMF experts for their work in Belarus. -0-