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 re-imposed 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 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.
Agriculture Products
grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk
Industries
metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earth movers, motorcycles, TV sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles, radios, refrigerators
Industrial Production Growth Rate
8% (1999 est.)
Labor Force
4.3 million (1998)
Electricity production
21.893 billion kWh (1998)
Electricity production by source
Fossil fuel: 99.89%
Hydro: 0.11%
Nuclear: 0%
Other: 0% (1998)
Electricity Consumption
28.66 billion kWh (1998)
Electricity Exports
2.3 billion kWh (1998)
Electricity Imports
10.6 billion kWh (1998)
Currency
Belarusian rubel (BR)
Unemployment Rate
2.3% officially registered unemployed (December 1998); large number of underemployed workers
Population Below Poverty Line
22% (1995 est.)
Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share
Lowest 10%: 4.9%
Highest 10%: 19.4% (1993)
Budget
Revenues: $4 billion
Expenditures: $4.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $180 million (1997 est.)
Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate
Market Value of Publicly Traded Shares
Reserves of Foreign Exchange and Gold
Debt External
$1.1 billion (1998 est.)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment at Home
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment Abroad
Exchange Rates
Belarusian rubels per US$1 - 730,000 (15 December 1999), 139,000 (25 January 1999), 46,080 (2nd qtr 1998), 25,964 (1997), 15,500 (yearend 1996), 11,500 (yearend 1995)
