Belarus' economy bounces back to growth

 “We can say that the economy has recovered; it has grown by 0.9%. More than 85% of industries are already operating in the black. The main drivers are manufacturing and agriculture,” Andrei Kartun said. “Light industry, food production and oil refining are showing robust growth, too. The production of building materials will soon see positive performance, too,” the official said.

 According to him, sales growth is accelerating in the retail and wholesale segments every month. In particular, in January-May, retail trade grew by 2.9%, wholesale rose by 3.4%. “These are the so-called indicators of the consumer demand recovery,” the deputy minister noted.

 Real disposable household income increased by 1.6% in January-April and continues to grow.

 Andrei Kartun also noted that inflationary processes keep slowing down. In May, the annual inflation was at its all-time low of 3.7%. “We have not had such rates before. Even operational data suggests that it continues to slow down. In June, the inflation rate is expected to be even lower,” he said.

 In January-April, the export was growing at a robust 10%. A foreign trade surplus was maintained. The deputy minister also pointed to positive dynamics in investments.

 “Everything is in place for us to keep growing and we have all reasons to believe that the half-year performance will be good,” the deputy minister added.