Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Rumas highlighted the balance of the country's foreign trade while speaking today at a meeting with the President on priority measures to ensure the sustainable operation of the economy and social sphere amid the global epidemiological situation, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Rumas highlighted the balance of the country's foreign trade while speaking today at a meeting with the President on priority measures to ensure the sustainable operation of the economy and social sphere amid the global epidemiological situation, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
Sergei Rumas cited some performance indicators, in particular mentioning the balance of foreign trade: the positive balance of trade in goods and services for the first two months of this year amounted to $425 million.
The head of government informed: "The GDP growth rate for the first quarter was 99.7%, which is one percentage point below the quarterly forecast, but higher than all estimates – both external and internal. In the context of the pandemic, the government has focused on developing domestic economic sectors."
According to Sergei Rumas, the construction industry (106.3%), including a 10% increase in housing construction, agriculture (104.5%), and information and communication technologies (107.4%) made a positive contribution to GDP formation. The Prime Minister also noted the performance dynamics of industries processing local raw materials, metallurgy, woodworking, and pharmaceuticals, with an increase in cement production (110%) and ceramic tile production (102%).
"All other sectors also show positive dynamics. Throughout February and March, all sectors were growing. Except, objectively, for the oil industry, which began to grow in April," he noted.