On July 22, Minsk /BelTA correspondent/. According to preliminary data, Belarus received approximately $20.9 billion in foreign currency earnings in January-June 2011, which is 61.6% higher than the level of the same period last year. This was reported to a BelTA correspondent by the Information Department of the National Bank. Earnings from goods exports increased by 71.9% to $18.3 billion, accounting for 87.4% of the total foreign currency earnings. Earnings from services exports accounted for 10.8%, or $2.25 billion (an increase of 14%), and from domestic trade in foreign currency – 0.6%, or $119.8 million (an increase of 3.9%). Income receipts for the first half of the current year decreased by 15.1% to $56.4 million (0.3% of the total foreign currency earnings) compared to January-June 2010, while transfer receipts increased by 33.5% to $194.8 million (0.9%). According to preliminary data from the National Bank, 41.5% of all foreign currency earnings were generated from CIS countries, including 34.2% from Russia. The foreign currency earnings of enterprises are the most important source of foreign currency supply on the domestic foreign exchange market. "An increase in the volume of its inflow contributes to a higher balance between supply and demand for foreign currency on the domestic foreign exchange market and the overall foreign economic stability of the country," the National Bank noted. -0-

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