Govt expresses concern over widening trade deficit
25 Jul '08
1 min read
Mr Vyacheslav Dragun, Trade Minister of Belarus stated at a press conference that in the first five months of 2008, trade deficit of Belarus has touched US $264.3 million.
Trade Minister also noted that although measures have been taken to reduce imports, a lot more needs to be done to deal with this imbalance in trade.
It was reported that in the period between January and May, merchandise imports amounted to $2106.2 million, up by 22.9 percent than the same period last year. Besides, import of non-food items touched $1263.1 million while trade deficit for the same reached $295.4 million in the same period.
Additionally, trade gap between import and export of footwear stood at $22.7 million. However, at the same time, exports exceeded imports in goods like textile and knitwear, hosiery, carpets and some other goods.