Front Matter Page

© 1997 International Monetary Fund

November 1997

IMF Staff Country Report No. 97/111

Republic of Belarus—Recent Economic Developments

This recent economic developments report on the Republic of Belarus was prepared by a staff team of the International Monetary Fund as background documentation for the periodic consultation with this member country. As such, the views expressed in this document are those of the staff team and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Government of the Republic of Belarus or the Executive Board of the IMF.

International Monetary Fund

Washington, D.C.

Front Matter Page

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

REPUBLIC OF BELARUS

Recent Economic Developments

Prepared by a staff team consisting of Thomas Wolf (head), Mario de Zamaróczy, Athanasios Arvanitis and Valerie Mercer-BIackman (all EU2), Mohammed Tareen (PDR), and Richard Haas (Resident Representative in Belarus)

Approved by European II Department

August 4, 1997

Contents

• Basic Data

• I. Overview

• II. Real Economy, Prices and Incomes

  • A. Overall Economic Activity

    • Developments in 1996 and the first five months of 1997

  • B. Output by Sectors

    • Industry

    • Agriculture and forestry

    • Services

    • Energy

  • C. Inflation and Price Policy

  • D. Employment and Wages

    • Wages and other incomes

    • Other income

    • Employment

  • E. Financial Position of Enterprises

• III. Public Finance

  • A. Overview of Public Finances in 1996 and Early 1997

  • B. State Budget Revenue

  • C. State Budget Expenditure and Net Lending

  • D. Budget Financing

  • E. Operations of the Extrabudgetary Funds

  • F. The 1997 Budget

  • G. Tax Harmonization with the Russian Federation

  • H. Institutional Developments

• IV. Monetary Policy and Banking Sector Developments

  • A. Overall Monetary Policy Environment

  • B. Credit and Monetary Developments

    • Developments in 1996

    • Developments in January-May 1997

  • C. Directed Credits

  • D. Indirect Policy Instruments and Interest Rates

  • E. Monetary Relations with Russia

  • F. Banking Sector Developments

• V. External Sector

  • A. Exchange and Payments System

  • B. Trade System

  • C. Balance of Payments Developments

    • Direction and composition of trade

    • Trade developments

    • Other balance of payments developments

    • External debt and debt service

• VI. Structural Policy

  • A. The Institutional and Legal Environment

  • B. Privatization

  • C. Enterprise and Labor Market Policy

  • D. Price Regulation and Demonopolization

• Text Boxes

• 1. The Yamal Pipeline

• 2. Commercial Bank Liquidation and Restructuring Procedures

• Text Tables

• 1. Gross Domestic Product by Sector, 1992-96

• 2. Gross Domestic Product by Expenditure, 1992-96

• 3. Growth of Gross Domestic Product by Expenditure, 1992-96

• 4. Growth of Gross Domestic Product by Sector, 1992-96

• 5. Capital Investment by Sectors in Comparable Prices, 1992-97 (Q1)

• 6. Industrial Production, 1992-97 (Q1)

• 7. Inventories of Ready-Made Products in the Warehouses of Industrial Enterprises by Branches of the Economy, January 1996 to April 1997

• 8. Selected Indicators of Industrial Production, 1992-97 (January-April)

• 9. Share of Total Exports in Production of Selected Industrial Products, 1992-97 (April)

• 10. Agricultural Production, 1992-96

• 11. Belarus: Share of Private Sector in Agriculture, 1992-96

• 12. Distribution of Agricultural Land by Ownership, 1990 and 1993-96

• 13. Share of Agricultural Production Sold Through State Procurement Organizations, 1990 and 1993-96

• 14. Production and Consumption of Energy, 1992-97 (April)

• 15. Sources and Uses of Energy, 1992-97 (April)

• 16. Price Developments, 1994-97 (May)

• 17. Changes in Administered Prices of Household Services, 1996-97 (March)

• 18. Tariffs and Cost Coverage for Households (January 1, 1995 to April 1, 1997)

• 19. Average Monthly Wages, 1992-96

• 20. Price and Wage Developments, 1992-97 (January-April)

• 21. Labor Market Indicators, 1992-97 (January-April)

• 22. Average Monthly Employment by Branches, 1992-97 (January-April)

• 23. Money Income and Expenditures of Population, 1995-97 (April)

• 24. Enterprise Profits and Losses, 1992-97 (Q1)

• 25. Profit-Making Enterprises in the Industrial Sector, by Branches 1994-97 (Q1)

• 26. Interenterprise Arrears, 1992-97 (Q1)

• 27. Sectoral Distribution of Energy Debts of Enterprises, 1995-97 (April)

• 28. Summary of General Government Operations, 1992-97 (April)

• 29. Summary of General Government Operations, 1992-97 (April) (In percent of GDP)

• 30. State Budget, 1992-97 (April)

• 31. State Budget, 1992-97 (April) (In percent of GDP)

• 32. Tax Arrears, 1993-97 (Q1)

• 33. Social Funds, 1992-97 (April)

• 34. Extrabudgetary Funds 1992-97 (April)

• 35. General Government Debt, 1992-97 (May)

• 36. Monetary Survey, 1995-97 (May)

• 37. Accounts of the National Bank of Belarus, 1995-97 (May)

• 38. Deposit Money Banks Accounts, 1995-97 (May)

• 39. Factors Contributing to the Growth of Monetary Aggregates 1995-97 (May)

• 40. National Bank Credit, 1995-97 (Q1)

• 41. Composition of Bank Lending by Type of Credit and Sector, 1992-96

• 42. Auctions of NBB Credits, 1996-97 (April)

• 43. Auction of Securities, 1996-97 (May)

• 44. Minimum Reserve Requirements, 1992-97 (April)

• 45. Interest Rates of the National Bank of Belarus, 1996-97 (May)

• 46. Interest Rates on Bank Deposits, 1996-97 (May)

• 47. Interest Rates on Bank Credit, 1996-97 (May)

• 48. Interest Rates on New Foreign Exchange Deposits and Credits, 1996-97 (March)

• 49. Structural Characteristics of the Banking Sector, 1995-97 (April)

• 50. Commercial Banks, Selected Indicators, 1995-97 (April)

• 51. Six Largest Commercial Banks, Selected Indicators, 1995-97

• 52. Official Exchange Rates, 1993-97 (Q2)

• 53. Direction of Trade; Exports and Imports 1993-97 (April)

• 54. Selected Exports, 1993-97 (April)

• 55. Selected Imports, 1993-97

• 56. External Trade in Goods by Branches of Industry, 1994-96

• 57. External Trade in Goods with CIS Countries by Branches of Industry, 1994-96

• 58. External Trade in Goods with non-CIS Countries by Branches of Industry

• 59. Balance of Payments, 1993-97 (Q1)

• 60. Medium- and Long-Term Public and Publicly-Guaranteed External Debt, 1993-97 (Q1)

• 61. Transformation of State Property, 1991-97 (May)

• 62. Transformation of State Property, 1991-97 (May) (Excluding Joint-stock Companies with State Share of More Than 50 percent

• 63. Number of Transformed Enterprises by Activity, 1992-97 (Q1)

• 64. Number of Transformed Enterprises by Method of Transformation, 1992-97 (Q1)

• 65. Number of Employees in Transformed Enterprises, 1991-97 (May)

• 66. Number of Employees in Transformed Enterprises, 1991-97 (May) (Excluding Joint-stock Companies with State Share of More Than 50 percent)

• 67. Housing Privatization, 1992-97 (Q1)

• Figures

• 1. Composition of GDP, 1992 and 1996

• 2. Industrial Production by Sector, 1996

• 3. Inflation and Wages in Selected Countries, 1994-97 (May)

• 4. General Government Fiscal Indicators, 1992-97 (April)

• 5. BCIS: General Government Revenue, 1993 and 1996

• 6. Monetary Aggregates, 1995-97 (May)

• 7. Real Interest Rates, 1994-97 (May)

• 8. Exchange Rates, 1994-97 (May)

• 9. Share of CIS Countries in Total Trade, 1992-97 (Q1)

• 10. BCIS: Average Foreign Direct Investment, 195-96

• 11. Gross Reserve of the NBB, 1995-97 (May)

• Appendices

• I. Status of the Tax System: May 1, 1997

• II. Status of the Social Safety Net: May 1, 1997

• Appendix Tables

• 68. Excise Taxes on Domestically Produced Goods, 1992-97

• 69. Excise Taxes on Imported Goods, May 1997

• 70. Types of Pensions and Pension Recipients

• 71. Social Indicators and Insurance Contribution Rates in Selected Countries

• 72. Age Structure of Population, 1959-96

• 73. Number of Employed and Pensioners, 1990-96