Stabilization Of Economies Observed In Countries Of Former Soviet Union

The tendency to relative stabilization of economies in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS, which incorporates 12 countries of the former USSR) which emerged during the past two years, strengthened in the first quarter of 2001, according to information received from the Inter-State Statistics Committee of the CIS. The committee stated that the tendency could be seen in the continuing growth of the major macroeconomic indicators. At the same time, the experts suppose that, against the background of the positive dynamics in the output of the basic industries of some countries, primarily Russia and Belarus, the rate of economic growth was essentially lower in January-March of this year than in 2000 as a whole. The experts say that, although the investments in CIS countries have increased, they are still insufficient for sustainable economic growth. Moreover the growth in the consumer demand is hampered by low real incomes of the population. The experts also noted that, owing to regulatory actions on currency markets of the CIS states in the first quarter of 2001, no abrupt changes in exchange rates of national currencies have been observed. The mutual trade of CIS countries has also increased. At the same time, most of the exports from CIS countries are directed to other countries of the world.