Page 18 - BELRptFeb19

5.0 External Sector & Trade 5.1 External sector overview
Belarus' foreign trade in 2018 showed a small surplus , the Belarusian First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Yeudachenka told BelTA on January 16.
“We have statistics for 11 months. We have a trade deficit just like in 2017. But it was mainly caused by growing prices for energy resources – growing prices for oil. The merchandise trade balance will be roughly the same as it was in 2017. As for trade in merchandise and services, we are likely to beat the year 2017 figure and we will have a surplus,” said the first deputy minister of foreign affairs.
Belarus has managed to secure considerable headway in export development in the last few years, including thanks to efforts of the government and the favourable global market situation.
“In 2017 our export rose by $5.7bn on top of 2016. In 2018 we will gain about $4.5-5bn on top of 2017. We believe that adding $10bn to our export within two years is a good result,” noted Yeudachenka.
BelTA reported earlier that in January-November 2018 Belarus' export increased by 16% in comparison with January-November 2017 to reach $38.2bn.
Foreign trade in merchandise and services was close to $75.7bn, 15.7% up from January-November 2017. Export exceeded $38.2bn (16% up), with import over $37.4bn (15.3% up).
Trade surplus was $782.6mn, up from $483.3mn in January-November 2017.
18 BELARUS Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com