Page 13 - BELRptAug18

5.2 Balance of payments, current account
Belarus -Trade 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Jan-Nov 2017
Trade: External balance on goods and -645 2,935 -2,378 -606 60 -44 391 services (USD mn)
Trade: External balance on goods and -1.04 4.47 -3.15 -0.77 0.11 -0.09 / services (% of GDP)
Trade: Goods exports (BoP) (USD mn) 40,928 45,574 36,540 35,423 26,164 23,100 25,876
Trade: Goods imports (BoP) (USD mn) 44,394 45,009 41,134 38,334 28,307 25,611 28,213
Trade: Current account balance (USD mn) -5,053 -1,862 -7,567 -5,228 -1,831 -1,675 -347 (Jan-Sep)
Trade: Current account to GDP (%)
-8.2 -2.8 -10.0 -6.6 -3.2 -3.5 -5.3
5.2.1 Import/export dynamics
Belarus and Turkey intend to raise the bilateral trade to $1bn by the end of the year , according to the Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich, who met with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in Ankara on July 9, BelTA reports. Myasnikovich welcomed results of the latest elections in Turkey and said Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko was one of the first foreign leaders to send a congratulatory address to Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Belarusian-Turkish relations are a strategic direction for the small republic and this was the two men’s third meeting this year.
The export of Belarusian dairy products to China quintupled in the first four months of this year , the Belarusian Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister Igor Brylo said on 6 July. “In the first five months of the year the export of Belarusian dairy products to China increased by five times. All in all, Belarus exported some $10mn worth of meat and dairy products to China in January-May,” Brylo said as cited by BelTA. China has adopted Belarus as one of its preferred partners in Europe and given it access to its tightly control domestic food market. “As many as 47 Belarusian dairy enterprises, two meat-packing plants, and five poultry farms have been authorized to export food to China. The export of dairy products is on the rise. The first few batches of beef have been delivered,” the deputy agriculture and food minister said. Belarus also intends to start shipping poultry meat to China soon. “We've been permitted to export frozen carcasses to China but we are also interested in selling parts of carcasses and semi-cooked products. I think we will soon be able to expand the choice of exports shipped to China,” Brylo said.
The trade turnover of the Belarusian-Russian cement market totalled $400mn over the last four years , the press service of the Belarusian Architecture and Construction Ministry told BelTA on August 3. The Belarusian Architecture and Construction Ministry is currently in talks with the Russian
13 BELARUS Country Report August 2018 www.intellinews.com