<hdr>The World Factbook 1994: Belarus<nl>Economy</hdr><body>
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<item><hi format=bold>Overview:</hi> Belarus ranks among the most developed of the former Soviet states, with a relatively modern—by Soviet standards—and diverse machine building sector and a robust agriculture sector. It also serves as a transport link for Russian oil exports to the Baltic states and Eastern and Western Europe. The breakup of the Soviet Union and its command economy has resulted in a sharp economic contraction as traditional trade ties have collapsed. At the same time, the Belarusian Government has lagged behind most other former Soviet states in economic reform; privatization has barely begun; the agriculture sector remains highly subsidized; the state retains control over many prices; and the system of state orders and distribution persists. Meanwhile, the national bank continues to pour credits into inefficient enterprises, fueling inflation and weakening incentives to improve performance. The government is pinning its hopes on reintegration with the Russian economy, but such a path would only partially restore traditional trade ties. Until economic reform is embraced, Belarus will continue in its economic morass.
<item><hi format=bold>National product:</hi> GDP—purchasing power equivalent—$61 billion (1993 estimate from the UN International Comparison Program, as extended to 1991 and published in the World Bank's World Development Report 1993; and as extrapolated to 1993 using official Belarusian statistics, which are very uncertain because of major economic changes since 1990)
<item><hi format=bold>National product real growth rate:</hi> -9% (1993 est.)
<item><hi format=bold>National product per capita:</hi> $5,890 (1993 est.)
<item><hi format=bold>Inflation rate (consumer prices):</hi> 30% per month (1993)
<item><hi format=bold>Unemployment rate:</hi> 1.4% officially registered unemployed (December 1993); large numbers of underemployed workers
<item><hi format=bold>Budget:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>revenues:</hi> $NA
<item>• <hi format=ital>expenditures:</hi> $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
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<item><hi format=bold>Exports:</hi> $710 million to outside of the FSU countries (f.o.b., 1993)
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<item>• <hi format=ital>commodities:</hi> machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs
<item>• <hi format=ital>consumption per capita:</hi> 3,626 kWh (1992)
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<item><hi format=bold>Industries:</hi> employ about 40% of labor force and produce a wide variety of products including (in percent share of total output of former Soviet Union): tractors (12%); metal-cutting machine tools (11%); off-highway dump trucks up to 110-metric-ton load capacity (100%); wheel-type earthmovers for construction and mining (100%); eight-wheel-drive, high-flotation trucks with cargo capacity of 25 metric tons for use in tundra and roadless areas (100%); equipment for animal husbandry and livestock feeding (25%); motorcycles (21.3%); television sets (11%); chemical fibers (28%); fertilizer (18%); linen fabric (11%); wool fabric (7%); radios; refrigerators; and other consumer goods
<item><hi format=bold>Agriculture:</hi> accounts for almost 25% of GDP and 5.7% of total agricultural output of former Soviet Union; employs 21% of the labor force; in 1988 produced the following (in percent of total Soviet production): grain (3.6%), potatoes (12.2%), vegetables (3.0%), meat (6.0%), milk (7.0%); net exporter of meat, milk, eggs, flour, potatoes
<item><hi format=bold>Illicit drugs:</hi> illicit cultivator of opium poppy and cannabis; mostly for the domestic market; transshipment point for illicit drugs to Western Europe
<item>• <hi format=ital>note:</hi> the government signed a framework agreement with Russia for a monetary union in January 1994, but a schedule and mechanism for merging the two monetary systems and replacing Belarusian rubels with Russian rubles have not been worked out
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<item><hi format=bold>Exchange rates:</hi> NA
<item><hi format=bold>Fiscal year:</hi> calendar year
