OREANDA-NEWS. August 25, 2009. Belarus saw an economic growth during summer months, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky said as he met with Marek Belka, Director of the IMF's European Department, in Minsk, reported the Official website government.by.

“We say with satisfaction that spring and summer this year have been the period of growth for the Belarusian economy,” the Prime Minister said.

According to Sergei Sidorsky, in early 2009 the stocks of products at warehouses of Belarusian companies increased as many markets closed down. Yet, during this period Belarus explored 13 new markets where it supplies its products to.

“Since as early as May-June the country has been selling everything it produces, most of it abroad. The problem of warehouse overstocking is being gradually addressed. We are sure that by the end of the year we will meet the standards for warehouse stocks,” the Head of the Belarusian Government noted.

In H1 2009 investments increased by more than 10% as against the same period a year earlier. Belarus attracted foreign investments into new technologies. “We have proposals from European and Russian banks which would like to invest in the Belarusian economy, modernize our production facilities,” Sergei Sidorsky noted. He also added that none of the investment programmes has been curtailed in Belarus.

According to Sergei Sidorsky, as agreed with the IMF, Belarus has been pursuing tough monetary and budget policy. Experts of the National Bank and the Finance Ministry of Belarus closely cooperate with IMF specialists. Budget expenditures have been considerably cut down in Belarus, Sergei Sidorsky stressed

“The situation with inflation is kept under tough control. In January the Government took up a decision to increase tariffs what fueled the inflation growth. We have recently stabilized these processes. The inflation of 0.3-0.4% per month is the rate the government outlined in the anti-crisis programme. The inflation is being stabilized as the economy is starting to grow, investments are on the rise and budget expenditures are streamlined,” Sergei Sidorsky said.

On the whole, the Belarusian side is fully satisfied with the cooperation with the IMF and with the support this Organisation provides especially during the current economic downturn. “The IMF support is very important for us, especially when the trade with Belarus’ traditional partners has been slowing down,” the Prime Minister added. Sergei Sidorsky thanked the IMF experts for their activity in Belarus.

Belarus needs a transition period to stabilize the economy, Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky said. According to Sergei Sidorsky, there are problems in the Belarusian economy, and they are considerable. “It is not only the problems related to the economic issues inside the country. There are also problems on foreign markets, first of all, in the Russian Federation. We have to move half of our exports traditionally bound for Russia to third countries. That is why we need this transition period,” the Prime Minister said.

“We hope the Russian economy will open soon. There are already positive trends taking into account an increase in oil prices,” he added.

According to Sergei Sidorsky, those steps the Russian government has been taking to support the economic areas closely linked to the Belarusian economy (motor-car construction, engineering industry and others) will stimulate the development of the Belarusian economy in the near future.
“Apart from that, Belarus’ recent diversification into foreign markets would bring benefits both in price and competitiveness,” Sergei Sidorsky stated.

The International Monetary Fund is satisfied with Belarus’ economic policy, Director of the IMF’s European Department Marek Belka stated as he met with Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky.

“We are happy with the general framework of the economic policy pursued the Government of Belarus,” Marek Belka said.

According to Marek Belka, an IMF mission is in Minsk for a second survey of a standby programme and consultations in line with Article 4 which are a traditional monitoring of the country’s developments.

The bilateral discussions will focus on the overriding issues. A low foreign currency reserves level which can undermine the economic stability of the country will top the agenda, Marek Belka said. This issue is also addressed in the IMF-Belarus programme that expires in early 2010. “We are discussing this issue from the point of view of lending and its impact on the foreign currency reserve and from the point of view of the fiscal policy and its impact on the domestic demand,” Marek Belka said.

The long-term actions provided in Article 4 are aimed at securing the high economic growth which Belarus had before the crisis.