OREANDA-NEWS.  On 11 March, President Alexander Lukashenko met with Vladimir Zinovsky, the Minister for Statistics and Analysis, to receive his report.

At present, the Ministry for Statistics and Analysis is doing active preparation for national census due in 2009. In October 2007, the Ministry conducted a test census, on the basis of which the Ministry prepared a programme for carrying out the national census. The programme will be published on the official site of the Ministry for Statistics for the general public as early as next week. The public opinion will be taken into account by the authorities and appropriate amendments may be brought therein, Vladimir Zinovsky said. In June, the programme is expected to be brought into Government for consideration.

Vladimir Zinovsky also informed the Head of State on the statistical results of the performance of the Belarusian economy in the first two months of 2008. The results were generally positive: GDP grew by 9.9 per cent, mainly on the heels of industrial production which upped by 12.9 per cent; the growth in the gross production in the agricultural sector went up by more than 6 per cent. Capital investments climbed by 12.1 per cent.

The President paid close attention to the importance of having reliable statistical data for making sure that right managerial decisions are made.