OREANDA-NEWS. February 09, 2011. Belarus may fail to reach all macroeconomic indicators in 2011-2015 if it fails to attain a foreign trade surplus by 2014, National Bank of Belarus (NBB) Governor Petr Prokopovich said at an enlarged session of the Council of Ministers.

“I would like to emphasize the key aspect for these five years: if we fail to reach a trade surplus by 2014, all our plans and projects, including the increase in people’s well-being, may fail, to say nothing of the economic and financial security,” Prokopovich said.

He said the situation was paradoxical: the more Belarus exports, the larger trade deficit it has.”

“We are digging a hole for the future failure, therefore, starting this month, every exporter must be instructed that the increase in export must be at least 10 points above the increase in import Otherwise, we will have to take severe measures. We have increased export by raising import,” Prokopovich said.

“If we fail this year, it will be harder to reach a surplus in 2014,” he added.

Prokopovich said time was perfect for reaching the objective. “The situation is ideal, as there are many resources up for grabs, and we must have them. We have no problems with buying equipment – there are credit lines available on easy terms,” the NBB governor said.