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Belarus economy shrinks by 3.6 pct in Q1

Xinhua, April 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

Belarus' gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 3.6 percent in the first quarter of 2016, the National Statistics Committee of Belarus said on Monday.

Industrial output decreased by 4.3 percent, while agricultural output increased by 2 percent compared with the same period of last year, the committee said.

In the first three months, fixed capital investments decreased by 26.3 percent from January-March 2015.

As much as 1,126,800 square meters of housing was commissioned, down 28.1 percent from the same period of last year.

Retail trade turnover inched down by 0.9 percent, while wholesale trade dropped by 4.5 percent, the data showed.

Belarusian Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov said that the situation in the Belarusian economy remained difficult, but manageable.

It was not yet possible to fully enter the path of economic recovery, he said.

The Belarusian authorities earlier predicted a 1.1 percent decrease in the country's GDP in the first quarter of 2016.

Belarus' GDP declined by 3.9 percent in 2015. Endit