OREANDA-NEWS. Belarus’ economy sectors oriented to the home market were there to witness the greatest decrease in output in 2012, the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) said in the new edition of its CIS Macromonitor.

Handicapped by the financial crisis of 2011, Belarus’ economic growth slowed down considerably in 2012 to reach 1.5%, EDB experts said. Economy sectors oriented to the consumer demand on the home market were affected by the decline to the greatest extent: housing output reduced 9.8%, retail trade – down 6.8%. Belarus’ bread-winning mining industries reduced output by 2.3%.

Belarus’ inflation totalled 21.8% to compare with 108.7% in 2011.

Belarus’ payment balance, which was fairly consolidated in the second half of 2011 and the first half of 2012, has aggravated significantly. EDB experts blame two factors on that: 1) the government’s move to stimulate economic growth by means of credit expansion, 2) Russia’s move to change the terms of oil trade.