Belarus’ exports fully offset losses from sanctions in Q1 – official

May 24, BPN. In the first three months of 2023, Belarus’ exports fully compensated for losses caused by Western sanctions, a senior cabinet member has said.

Government policies ensured a foreign trade surplus with exports of goods and services reaching a 10-year high, First Deputy Prime Minister Mikałaj Snapkoŭ told the National Assembly’s joint session, the press offices of both chambers report.

In 2022, sanctions had a direct impact on a quarter of Belarus’ economy, indirectly affecting all other sectors, but the government redirected exports to “friendly countries” and managed to offset 80 percent of losses in the Western and Ukrainian markets, Snapkoŭ noted.

Exports to Russia rose by nearly 60 percent to $2.2 billion and China, by 40 percent, he said. Exports of goods in all commodity groups grew by 13 percent to $3.6 billion, the official added.

Over the past few years, Western countries imposed sectoral sanctions on the Belarusian authorities for human rights abuses, the forced landing of the Ryanair plane in Minsk in 2021, artificially created migration crisis and complicity in Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Belarus’ economic decline slowed down to 0.6 percent year on year from January to April, the National Statistics Committee (Belstat) said.

In 2022, Belarus’ GDP fell by 4.7 percent. The government slated a 3.8-percent economic growth for 2023.