average standard of living, and its
critical dependence on the other former Soviet states for fuels and raw
materials. Belarus ranks fourth in gross output among the former Soviet
republics, having produced 4% of the total GDP and employing 4% of the labor
force in the old USSR. Once a mainly agricultural area, it now supplies
important producer and consumer goods - sometimes as the sole producer - to
the other states. Belarus had a significant share of the machine-building
capacity of the former USSR. It is especially noted for production of
tractors, large trucks, machine tools, and automation equipment. The soil in
Belarus is not as fertile as the black earth of Ukraine, but by emphasizing
favorable crops and livestock (especially pigs and chickens), Belarus has
become a net exporter to the other former republics of meat, milk, eggs,
flour, and potatoes. Belarus produces only small amounts of oil and gas and
receives most of its fuel from Russia through the Druzhba oil pipeline and
the Northern Lights gas pipeline. These pipelines transit Belarus en route
to Eastern Europe. Belarus produces petrochemicals, plastics, synthetic
fibers (nearly 30% of former Soviet output), and fertilizer (20% of former
Soviet output). Raw material resources are limited to potash and peat
deposits. The peat (more than one-third of the total for the former Soviet
Union) is used in domestic heating, as boiler fuel for electric power
stations, and in the production of chemicals. The potash supports fertilizer
production. In 1992 GDP fell an estimated 13%, largely because the country
is highly dependent on the ailing Russian economy for raw materials and
parts.
National product:
GDP $NA
National product real growth rate:
-13% (1992 est.)
National product per capita:
$NA
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
30% per month (first quarter 1993)
Unemployment rate:
0.5% of officially registered unemployed; large numbers of underemployed
workers
Budget:
revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Exports:
$1.1 billion to outside of the successor states of the former USSR (f.o.b.,
1992)
commodities:
machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs
partners:
NA
Imports: $751 million from outside the successor states of the former USSR (c.i.f.,
1992)
commodities:
machinery, chemicals, textiles
partners:
NA
External debt:
$2.6