Belarus is steadily minimizing its negative foreign trade balance

August 3, Minsk / Liliya Krapivina - BELTA/. The negative foreign trade balance in Belarus is steadily decreasing. This was stated today to journalists by Roman Brodov, Head of the Main Department of Foreign Economic Policy of the Ministry of Economy, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.

"The trend of minimizing the foreign trade balance is stable," said Roman Brodov, providing specific figures for confirmation. In the first half of the year, the negative foreign trade balance amounted to Br4.5 billion. It was formed by 67% in the first quarter and only 33% in the second. This is a good result, which indicates the stable nature of the continuous decrease in the foreign trade balance, emphasized the representative of the Ministry of Economy.

He also analyzed in detail a number of factors that influenced Belarus's foreign trade results in the first half of the year. Thus, a record export volume was achieved in April and May. At the same time, it was not possible to reach the same high indicators in June, with exports amounting to $3.350 billion. "We fell short by $150 million to remain at the record level of the previous month," said Roman Brodov. "In June, we would have remained at the same high level if it were not for the planned re-equipment of one of the oil refineries." The planned re-equipment of the oil refinery somewhat slowed down the export of light petroleum products, despite the fact that raw materials continued to be supplied to the enterprise.

Another factor that contributed to the deterioration in foreign trade in June was the import of passenger cars. It amounted to $650 million for the month. Roman Brodov compared this figure with the annual exports of the "Bellegprom" concern, which is about $640 million. Therefore, the import of passenger cars also significantly influenced the formation of the foreign trade balance, however, these factors are not structural, characteristic, or permanent. In the second half of 2011, the foreign trade balance will be formed on completely different economic principles. Structurally, the economy is being restructured towards export as its dominant role, emphasized the head of the main department of the Ministry of Economy.

The trend towards minimizing the negative foreign trade balance is also indicated by the faster growth rate of exports over imports. According to the results of 6 months, the export growth rate outpaced imports by 6.7 percentage points. Moreover, this gap exists in all market segments, regardless of geographical affiliation. Exports exceed imports in Belarus's trade with European Union countries, CIS countries, including Russia, as well as with Customs Union countries. "This is a good result, it indicates that the situation in Belarus's foreign economic activity, despite the June factor, has stabilized and is aimed at minimizing the balance, rather than further increasing it," emphasized Roman Brodov. He clarified that this year, less of the main imported commodity – gas – has been imported into Belarus than last year, although objectively the country has economic growth, ensured in part by this energy carrier. But the growth in gas imports is related not to the volume of purchases, but to the increase in prices for this resource.

The representative of the Ministry of Economy also answered journalists' questions regarding the problems of foreign currency earnings of economic entities. "Some government bodies see a problem in the fact that, in principle, there is a trend of reducing the return of foreign currency earnings in the short term," stated Roman Brodov. To solve this problem, an important factor is the achievement of a single exchange rate for the Belarusian ruble. "Therefore, as the exchange rate stabilizes and converges across different market segments, this problem will be resolved naturally," he believes. A strict exchange rate policy will be an important step that will "bring in the necessary amount of earnings at the right time to our country," emphasized Roman Brodov. -0-