OREANDA-NEWS. Although the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) revised its forecast of Belarus’ year-on-year GDP growth for 2013 from 1.5% to 2%; with a 2.5% growth expected in 2014, the EBRD expects a slowdown in Belarus’ GDP growth in the coming months because of the pressure from Russia and the European Union, head of the EBRD Office in Minsk Francis Delaey told.

According to the government’s official forecast, Belarus plans to see its GDP grow by 8.5% on the year in 2013. In 2012, Belarus’ GDP grew 1.5% on the year to 527.4 trillion Belarusian rubles (USD 61.4 billion), which completely coincided with the EBRD forecast. Conversely, the government’s GDP growth forecast for 2012 stood at 5-5.5%.