ing with this
policy, LUKASHENKO reimposed administrative controls over prices and
currency exchange rates and expanded the state's right to intervene
in the management of private enterprises. In addition, businesses
have been subject to pressure on the part of central and local
governments, e.g., arbitrary changes in regulations, numerous
rigorous inspections, retroactive application of new business
regulations, and arrests of "disruptive" businessmen and factory
owners. A wide range of redistributive policies has helped those at
the bottom of the ladder; the Gini coefficient is among the lowest
in the world. For the time being, Belarus remains self-isolated from
the West and its open-market economies. Growth has been strong in
recent years, despite the roadblocks in a tough, centrally directed
economy and the high, but decreasing, rate of inflation. Growth has
been buoyed by increased Russian demand for generally noncompetitive
Belarusian goods.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$70.5 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
6.4% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $6,800 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 11%
industry: 36.4%
services: 52.6% (2004 est.)

Labor force:
4.305 million (31 December 2003)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 14%, industry 34.7%, services 51.3% (2003 est.)

Unemployment rate:
2% officially registered unemployed; large number of underemployed
workers (2004)

Population below poverty line:
27.1% (2003 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 5.1%
highest 10%: 20% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
21.7 (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
17.4% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
21.8% of GDP (2004 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $3.326 billion
expenditures: $3.564 billion, including capital expenditures of $180
million (2004 est.)

Agriculture - products:
grain, potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, flax; beef, milk

Industries:
metal-cutting machine tools, tractors, trucks, earthmovers,
motorcycles, televisions, chemical fibers, fertilizer, textiles,
radios, refrigerators

Industrial production growth rate:
4% (2004 est.)

Electricity - production:
30 billion kWh (2004)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 99.5%
hydro: 0.1%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0.4% (2001)