OREANDA-NEWS. On 08 June 2009 was announced, that the Economy Minister of Belarus expects GDP to grow 1.4% on the year in January-May 2009, Deputy Economy Minister Oleg Melnikov said during a meeting of the National council for labor and social issues.

“We expect a 1.4% expansion in January-May 2009, so we observe a revival in the national economy,” the deputy minister said, adding that in January-April, Belarus’ GDP grew 1.2%.

First Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko said “the situation in industry has stabilized.”

“We expect industrial output to reach 96.5% of last year’s level in January-May 2009. In January-March 2009, industrial output decreased 4.5% on the year, and in January-April, 3.6%,” Semashko said.

We hope January-June figures will be 2%-3% below the first half of 2008, he added.