OREANDA-NEWS. May 30, 2011. In H2 2011 export growth in Belarus will prevail over import growth, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Guryanov told reporters. The results of implementation by government agencies and organizations of the foreign trade balance targets for January-April 2011 were reviewed in a session of the Council of Ministers Presidium.

“I think that in the second half we will have higher export growth than the growth of imports,” said Alexander Guryanov.

According to the data of the National Statics Committee and data from the regions, there have been some positive developments in foreign trade. Despite the fact that the foreign trade deficit remains large, Belarus has reported good export growth, which should help reduce the deficit.

In the four months from January to April this year imports were up by 60% as compared with the same period last year, exports by 54.1%. Foreign trade deficit in goods and services during this period made up USD 2.84 billion. “Last month the difference between growth of exports and growth of imports was more than 10%. Now it has already dropped to 6%,” said Alexander Guryanov. Thus, the pace of exports is catching up with the pace of imports.

“We see the need to increase exports. The point is that Belarus need to ramp up production in order to meet the needs of the domestic market as well as the increased demand in foreign markets. We now see that our major trading partners have an increased demand for our products. So we need to hold the balance of meeting domestic demand and export demand. In this regard, one of the tasks which the government has put forward is to increase the production of those goods which are in good demand,” Alexander Guryanov said. According to the Deputy Foreign Minister, from January to April this year the demand was high for Belarusian oil products, potash fertilizers, tires, trucks and tractors. The demand for certain types of goods increased by 2 to 3 times.

Alexander Guryanov reminded that Belarus has adopted a national export development program, which provides for gradual progress to reach zero balance of trade by 2014. According to Alexander Guryanov, the situation at the beginning of this year was unpredictable, and the country had to deal with high prices for energy and other imported goods. The April data show that the speculative demand for imports is falling. When speaking about how the government of Belarus intends to reduce it further, Alexander Guryanov explained: “With regard to the budget, administrative measures are not excluded. We seek to ensure rational use of budgetary funds, and already reviewed some of the programs and projects. As for private business, the foreign exchange market will make its own corrections.”

The Belarusian Government expects earnings from export to increase, Alexander Guryanov said.

“We believe the measures the National Bank has taken will increase the inflow of export earnings of Belarusian companies to the country,” said Alexander Guryanov. In his words, the demand for foreign currency will be reduced and it will be unprofitable to import commodities in large amounts to Belarus. All these factors will contribute to improving Belarus’ foreign trade balance, remarked the Deputy Foreign Minister. “We see that the situation is getting fixed and the measures that have been taken to correct monetary management will improve opportunities for exporters,” he explained.