Belarus Records Balance of Trade Deficit of almost USD 1 Billion in 2002

Belarus recorded a balance of trade deficit of USD 882.1 million in foreign trade in 2002. This was announced by Deputy Head of the Belarus Interior Ministry Press Department Andrei Savinykh at a briefing in Minsk today. According to the ministry there was a deficit of USD 1754.4 million in trade with CIS countries and USD 1788.6 million in trade with Russia. On the other hand, there was a balance of trade surplus of USD 872.3 million with non-CIS countries.

According to Mr Savinykh Belarus' volume of foreign trade increased in 2002 by 9.3% with export increasing by 8.7% and import by 9.8%. However export to CIS countries decreased by 0.7% while export to non-CIS countries rose by 23%.

Belarus' total foreign trade turnover for 2002 came to USD 17.08 billion. Export to Russia totaled USD 4.05 billion while import from Russia came to USD 5.84 billion.