BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

14/04/2009

Belarus corrects Jan-Feb figures, growth down

MINSK, April 14 (Reuters) - Belarus's Statistics Committee said on Tuesday it had corrected figures for the first two months of 2009 and was now issuing lower figures for growth and industrial output.

A statement on Belstat's Web site said gross domestic product had grown 2.6 percent in January and not 4.2 percent as originally reported. Growth over the first two months was now put at 1.2 percent instead of 2.3 percent.

Industrial output in January had actually declined by 2.9 percent, it said, against the original figure of 1.2 percent growth. The revised figure for two months was minus 4.7 percent against the original figure of minus 2.3 percent.

The committee said figures for the first quarter were unchanged.

The financial crisis has hit the former Soviet republic, cutting deeply into its exports of machinery, potash and petroleum products.

Belarus has clinched a deal for a $2.5 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund and has also secured a $1.5 billion credit from Russia, its traditional political and economic ally.

Belastat said the new, lower figures were largely due to the performance of small enterprises, with figures now reported quarterly instead of once a year.

'Given conditions of decline in industrial output for large and medium-sized enterprises, Belstate has taken the decision to proceed with quarterly reports from March to assess the performance of small enterprises...in conditions of crisis,'

Growth in Belarus, where much of the economy remains in state hands, has stood at about 10 percent for several years.

Authorities have so far stuck to a forecast of 11 percent growth in GDP for 2009, though the country's economy minister has said a figure of 2 to 5 percent is now an optimistic scenario.

(Reporting by Andrei Makhovsky, writing by Ron Popeski)

Source:

http://www.lse.co.uk/MacroEconomicNews.asp?ArticleCode=f0mejxr4e0ohoz2&ArticleHeadline=belarus_corrects_jan-feb_figures_growth_down

Google
 


Partners:
Face.by Social Network
Face.by