10 Dec 2009 14:24

Belarusian foreign trade deficit in Jan-Oct up 37%

MINSK. Dec 10 (Interfax) - Belarus' foreign trade deficit in January-October 2009 increased by 37.4% year-on-year to $4.309 billion, the National Bank of Belarus said on its website.

The foreign trade deficit for goods in January-October 2009 increased by 22.2% to $5.489 billion while the trade surplus for services dropped by 12.8% to $1.18 billion.

Exports of goods in the nine months dropped by 39.6% to $19.814 billion, including exports of goods - $16.99 billion (down 41.9%) and services - $2.82 billion (down 20.4%)

Imports dropped by 32.9% to $24.123 billion, including imports of goods - $22.483 billion (down 33.4%) and services - $1.64 billion (down 25%).

Total foreign trade in goods and services in January-October 2009 dropped by 36.1% to $43.937 billion, including $39.478 billion (down 37.4%) and services - down 22.1% to $4.459 billion.

Belarus' foreign trade deficit in 2008 came to $4.4 billion against an earlier forecast of $1.4 billion-$1.42 billion. The government forecast for 2009 sees a reduction in deficit to $1.47 billion-$1.5 billion. According to the National Bank of Belarus, the foreign trade deficit for 2009 could come to $4.7 billion-$4.8 billion.