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Trade deficit reaches nearly $3 billion

Belarus had a deficit of $2,933.7 million in foreign trade in goods and services in the first seven months of 2010, according to the National Statistics Committee, whereas the projection for the year was no more than $4,370 million, BelaPAN reports.

The country reportedly had an export surplus of $123.7 million in foreign trade in goods and services in January and a deficit of $2,390.8 million in the first six months of 2010.

Foreign trade increased by 18.5 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of 2010 to $34.5 billion, with exports rising by 22.2 percent to $15.8 million and imports by 15.6 percent to $18.7 million, said the National Statistics Committee.

Imports of "intermediate goods," which include energy resources, raw materials and components, increased by 15.9 percent to $12,952 million and exports of such goods rose by 9.2 percent to $8,409.9 million.

The export of energy resources decreased by 21.2 percent to $3,231.3 million and the import of energy resources by 2.3 percent to $5,871.9 million, with the deficit amounting to $2,640.6 million.

Belarus reportedly had an export surplus of $100.4 million in trade in consumer goods in the first seven months, compared with a deficit of $269.7 million in the same period of 2009.

In particular, Belarus had an export surplus of $865.2 million in trade in food in the first seven months of 2010, $550.6 million more than in the same period of 2009.

The country's deficit in foreign trade in goods and services reached $5.5 billion in 2009, whereas the projection had been between $1,470 million and $1,500 million.

The above-stated data were reportedly calculated according to the balance of payment method.

If calculated by the balance of trade method, which is based on customs statistics, Belarus’ deficit in foreign trade in goods amounted to $4,201.1 million in the first seven months of 2010, compared with $4,291.3 million in the same period of 2009.