Belarusian trade surplus at $603 mln in H1 compared with deficit in H1 2013
MINSK. Aug 8 (Interfax) - Belarus had a trade surplus of $602.7 million in the first half of 2014 compared with a trade deficit of $165.6 million in the same period last year, the National Bank reported.
Belarus narrowed the merchandise trade deficit of surplus over 90% to $121.8 million. The trade surplus in services declined 35.9% to $724.5 million in the six months.
Trade in merchandise and services fell 2.7% to $43.37 billion in January-June, including $37.08 billion for merchandise trade (down 4.5% year-on-year) and $6.29 billion for services (up 8.9%).
Exports of merchandise and services declined 1.1% to $21.989 billion, including $18.48 billion for merchandise (down 1.6%) and $3.5 billion for services (up 1.6%). Imports dropped 4.5% to $21.386 billion, including $18.6 billion for merchandise (down 7.2%) and $2.78 billion for services (up 19.6%).
Belarus had a trade deficit of $1.724 billion in 2013, compared with a surplus of $3.023 billion in 2012. A surplus of $105 million, 0.1% of forecast GDP, is being targeted this year. Exports of goods and services are slated to rise 6.9%.
