1994 to 244% in 1995 - the IMF has
criticized his exchange rate policies and suspended Minsk's $300
million standby program in November 1995. The overvalued ruble has
especially hurt Belarusian exporters, most of which now operate at a
loss. In addition, the January 1995 Customs Union agreement with
Russia - which required Minsk to adjust its foreign trade practices to
mirror Moscow's - has resulted in higher import tariffs for Belarusian
consumers; tariffs rose from 5%-20% to 20%-40%. In general, as of the
beginning of 1997, Belarus has badly lagged in moving away from the
old centrally planned policies of the former USSR.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $51.9 billion (1996 estimate as
extrapolated from World Bank estimate for 1994)

GDP - real growth rate: 3% (1996 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $5,000 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 21%
industry: 49%
services: 30% (1991 est.)

Inflation rate - consumer price index: 33% (1996)

Labor force:
total: 4.731 million
by occupation: industry and construction 36%, agriculture and forestry
19%, services 45% (1995)

Unemployment rate: 3.1% officially registered unemployed (December
1996); large numbers of underemployed workers

Budget:
revenues : $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA

Industries: tractors, metal-cutting machine tools, off-highway dump
trucks up to 110-metric-ton load capacity, wheel-type earth movers for
construction and mining, eight-wheel-drive, high-flotation trucks with
cargo capacity of 25 metric tons for use in tundra and roadless areas,
equipment for animal husbandry and livestock feeding, motorcycles,
television sets, chemical fibers, fertilizer, linen fabric, wool
fabric, radios, refrigerators, other consumer goods

Industrial production growth rate: 3.2% (1996 est.)

Electricity - capacity: 7.21 million kW (1994)

Electricity - production: 23.7 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity - consumption per capita: 2,553 kWh (1995 est.)

Agriculture - products: grain, potatoes, vegetables; meat, milk

Exports:
total value: $5.2 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities: machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs
partners: Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Germany

Imports:
total value: $6.8 billion (c.i.f., 1996)
commodities: fuel, natural gas, industrial raw materials, textiles,
sugar
partners: Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Germany

Debt - external: $2 billion (September 1995