Belarus executes budget with H1 deficit of 2.4% of GDP
MINSK. July 23 (Interfax) - Belarus implemented its budget in the first half of this year with a deficit of 1.720 trillion Belarusian rubles, or 2.4% of GDP, the country's Finance Ministry told Interfax.
The budget deficit was also 2.4% for January-May.
The republic's budget was executed in H1 with revenues of 13.779 trillion Bel. rubles, or 38.8% of the confirmed target for the year. Revenues included 1.453 trillion rubles in profit-tax receipts (41.2% of the target for the year), 4.996 trillion from VAT (39.7%), 2.9 trillion in taxes on foreign economic activities (29%), and 1.946 trillion from excises (42.7%).
On July 1, debts owed to the budget remained at the same level as at the start of the year - 58.7 billion Bel. rubles.
Budget expenditures for H1 came to 15.499 trillion Bel. rubles, or 39.4% of the target for the year. Spending included 2.9 trillion rubles for social purposes (50.6% of target), 4.65 trillion rubles for the national economy (35.9%), and 6.5 trillion rubles for general government activities (38.2%).
The Finance Ministry executed the republic's budget in 2009 with a surplus of 492.5 billion Bel. rubles, or 0.4% of GDP. Revenues weighed in at 46.8 trillion rubles (102.5% of target for 2009) and spending at 46.3 trillion rubles (99.5%).
The budget for this year was passed featuring a deficit of 2.905 trillion Bel. rubles, or 1.5% of GDP, revenues of 35.522 trillion and spending of 38.427 trillion rubles. The budget was planned on the basis of forecast GDP growth of 11%-13% and inflation of 9%-10%.
The official exchange rate on July 23: 2,990 Bel. rubles/$1.