Page 20 - BELRptApr19

5.0 External Sector & Trade 5.1 External sector overview
Belarus' merchandise trade declined by 4% year-on-year to $4.85bn,
according to the nation's statistics agency Belstat. Merchandise export fell by 2.1% y/y to $2.42bn and import by 5.9% to $2.43bn. The deficit of merchandise trade reached $6.8mn vs $105.4mn in January 2018. At the same time, the country's trade in merchandise and services exceeded drop by 2.7% y/y to $5.8bn in January. Exports amounted declined by 0.5% y/y to $3.08bn, while imports decline by 6.1% y/y to $2.76bn. The surplus of the foreign trade in merchandise and services amounted to $322.3mn vs $128.1mn in January 2018. According to official data, Belarus' merchandise trade rose by 14.6% y/y to $69.2bn in 2018. Merchandise export went up by 15.9% y/y to $33.2bn, with import up by 13.4% y/y to $35.9. The deficit of merchandise trade reached $2.65bn vs almost $3bn in 2017.
5.2 Balance of payments, current account
Belarus -Trade 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Trade: External balance on goods and -645 2,935 -2,378 -606 60 -44 72.4 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 28,657
Trade: Goods imports (BoP) (USD mn) 44,394 45,009 41,134 38,334 28,307 25,611 31,576
Trade: Current account balance (USD mn) -5,053 -1,862 -7,567 -5,228 -1,831 -1,675 -931.4
Trade: Current account to GDP (%)
-8.2 -2.8 -10.0 -6.6 -3.2 -3.5 -5.3
20 BELARUS Country Report April 2019 www.intellinews.com