World Bank forecasts recession for Belarus in 2017
The recession in Belarus will remain next year but the GDP decrease will slow down, the World Bank predicted in its economic review in Minsk on December 12, BelaPAN reports.
Belarus' GDP will decrease by 2.7% in 2016 and by 0.9% - in 2017, according to World Bank's experts. The Belarusian economy will not start recovering before 2018 and it can only happen if the export conditions improve.
The world prices for the raw materials exported from Belarus will stay low leading to the worsening of the balance of payments, the bank representatives noted. There has been no significant progress in the diversification of export while the state debt remains considerable pushing up the demand for external financing.
Belarus’ chances to reach steady economic growth depend on the authorities’ efforts aimed at restructuring the state enterprises, the experts stressed.
