Mother Earth Travel > Country Index > Belarus > Map Economy History |
| Economy - overview: Belarus has seen little structural reform
since 1995, when President LUKASHENKO launched the country on the path of
"market socialism." In keeping with this policy, LUKASHENKO
reimposed administrative controls over prices and currency exchange rates
and expanded the state's right to intervene in the management of private
enterprise. In addition to the burdens imposed by extremely high
inflation, businesses have been subject to pressure on the part of central
and local governments, e.g., arbitrary changes in regulations, numerous
rigorous inspections, and retroactive application of new business
regulations prohibiting practices that had been legal. Further economic
problems are two consecutive bad harvests, 1998-99, and persistent trade
deficits. Close relations with Russia, possibly leading to reunion, color
the pattern of economic developments. For the time being, Belarus remains
self-isolated from the West and its open-market economies. GDP: purchasing power parity - $78.8 billion (2000 est.) GDP - real growth rate: 4% (2000 est.) GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $7,500 (2000 est.) GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 23% industry: 28% services: 49% (1998 est.) Population below poverty line: 22% (1995 est.) Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 4.9% highest 10%: 19.4% (1993) Inflation rate (consumer prices): 200% (2000 est.) Labor force: 4.8 million (2000) Unemployment rate: 2.1% officially registered unemployed (December 2000); large number of underemployed workers Budget: revenues: $4 billion expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.) Industries: metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earth movers, motorcycles, TV sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators Industrial production growth rate:5% (2000 est.) Electricity - production: 24.911 billion kWh (1999) Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 99.9% hydro: 0.1% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) Electricity - consumption: 27.647 billion kWh (1999) Electricity - exports: 2.62 billion kWh (1999) Electricity - imports: 7.1 billion kWh (1999) Agriculture - products: grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk Exports: $7.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000) Exports - commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, textiles, foodstuffs Exports - partners: Russia 66%, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Lithuania (1998) Imports: $8.3 billion (f.o.b., 2000) Imports - commodities: mineral products, machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals, foodstuffs Imports - partners: Russia 54%, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Lithuania (1998) Debt - external: $1 billion (2000 est.) Economic aid - recipient: $194.3 million (1995) Currency: Belarusian rubel (BR) SOURCE: The World Factbook |
Mother Earth Travel > Country Index > Belarus > Map Economy History