Economy Overview
Since 2012, Belarus’s economy has suffered stagnation, which has led to widening productivity and income gaps between Belarus and neighboring countries. Since 2015, the Belarusian government has tightened its monetary policies (including allowing a more flexible exchange rate regime) and reduced subsidized government lending to state-owned industrial and agricultural enterprises, amid a drop in state budget revenues owing to falling global prices on key Belarusian export commodities - petroleum products and potash fertilizer. Belarus entered 2016 with a contracting economy and minimal hard currency reserves. GDP and foreign trade fell and unemployment rose, while inflation declined and hard currency reserves increased.
Agriculture Products
grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk
Industries
metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers, motorcycles, synthetic fibers, fertilizer, textiles, refrigerators, washing machines and other household appliances
Industrial Production Growth Rate
-4% (2016 est.)
Labor Force
4.381 million (2016 est.)
Labor Force by Occupation
Agriculture: 9.7%
Industry: 23.4%
Services: 66.8% (2015 est.)
Unemployment Rate
1% (2015 est.)
Population Below Poverty Line
5.7% (2016 est.)
Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share
Lowest 10%: 3.8%
Highest 10%: 21.9% (2008)
Distribution of Family Income Gini Index
21.7 (1998)
Budget
Revenues: $19.6 billion
Expenditures: $18.95 billion (2016 est.)
Public Debt
48.5% of GDP (2015 est.)
Central Bank Discount Rate
15% (15 March 2017)
Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate
Stock of Narrow Money
$2.301 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
Stock of Broad Money
$4.8 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
Stock of Domestic Credit
$22.23 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
Market Value of Publicly Traded Shares
$NA
Reserves of Foreign Exchange and Gold
$4.176 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
Debt External
$37.88 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment at Home
$7.241 billion (31 December 2015)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment Abroad
$4.649 billion (31 December 2015)
Exchange Rates
8,336.9 (2012 est.)
