Socio-Economic Development of Belarus (January – September of 2006)

In January – September of 2006 the economy of Belarus demonstrated sustainable and vibrant development. Virtually all most important parameters of the country’s socio-economic development forecast have been achieved.

In comparison with the same period of 2005:

• gross domestic product grew 9.6 percent, exceeding the forecast by 1.6 percent;

• industrial production rose 12.2 percent;

• agricultural production rose 2.2 percent;

• consumer goods production increased by 10.7 percent;

• capital investments grew 31.9 percent, including capital investments in industrial objects where growth was at 37.5 percent;

• foreign trade of goods and services in January – August 2006 grew 32.2 percent compared with the same period of 2005, including the growth of exports of goods and services by 27 percent, and the growth of imports by 37.6 percent;

• unemployment level as of October 1, 2006 made up 1.3 percent of the economically active population – the lowest among the countries of CIS and Eastern Europe.

A number of socio-economic indicators make Belarus look quite favorably compared with other CIS countries and transition economies as a whole.

According to the country report of the International Monetary Fund on Belarus (August 2006), high level of economic growth is preserved in Belarus together with the decrease of inflation as a result of tougher economic policies, improvement of trade environment, balanced exchange rate policy and decrease of state interference in price formation. Considerable progress is noted in the Belarusian Government’s actions in the field of budget system reform.

According to the International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics 2006 of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in terms of the results of 2004 among CIS countries, Belarus:

• has the highest index of annual industrial production growth, followed by Armenia and Kazakhstan;

• holds second highest after Russia index of annual industrial production growth per capita;

• has second highest after Ukraine (42 percent) index of share of industrial production in GDP (33.1 percent in the prices of 1995).

According to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) World Investment Report 2006, as of the end of 2005 Belarus:

• is placed in the category of countries with high potential for attracting direct foreign investments and ranks 50^th in the appropriate UNCTAD index, leading over most of the countries of South-Eastern Europe and CIS (yields only to Russia which ranks 25^th);

• ranks 32^nd in the world by the number of concluded agreements on promotion and protection of investments (51), yielding only to such countries of CIS and South-Eastern Europe as Romania (83), Bulgaria (65), Ukraine (61), Croatia (57) and Russia (53).

According to the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey jointly conducted by the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank, the best results in combating corruption are achieved in Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, and Slovakia.

According to the 2006 Global Hunger Index, released in October 2006 by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and charitable organization German Agro Action (DWHH), Belarus has the lowest hunger index among transition economies and developing countries. In comparison with 1997 this index dropped more than twice. Among CIS countries Ukraine ranks quite high – the 4^th, Russia – 13^th, Kazakhstan – 45^th, Kyrgyzstan – 48^th, Azerbaijan – 52^nd, Georgia – 55^th, Tajikistan – 108^th. Some EU member states were also rated: Lithuania (9^th), Latvia (11^th), Slovakia (15th), Estonia (19^th).

Belarusian efforts in combating and preventing HIV/AIDS are noted with appreciation in the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). In particular, a complex approach in formulating state policy on combating HIV/AIDS is underlined. In Belarus, over 75 percent of HIV-infected mothers and their newborn babies had full antiretrovirus prevention, and antiretrovirus therapy was effectively made part of the healthcare system of the country, which makes it possible to embrace over 80 percent of HIV-infected people. If the current tendencies continue, Belarus may become one of the first Eastern European country which will stop the spread of HIV/AIDS epidemic and by 2010 may start decreasing the incidence of disease.