Alyaksandr Lukashenka has expressed alarm over a significant increase in overdue accounts receivable that must be paid by Belarus’ foreign trading partners.
"Finished products have been dispatched, but there are no proceeds," the Belarusian leader said at a government conference held on Friday to discuss the country’s economic activity in the first six months of this year.
"Moreover, overdue accounts receivable that must be paid by Russian partners now exceeds Belarusian industrial companies’ debt by 347 billion rubels (almost $115.7 million), or four times," he said. "In other words, it appears that it is foreign trading partners that benefit from our increased exports and sales of inventories rather than our producers."
Mr. Lukashenka reiterated concern about unsold stocks of goods, noting that "the financial condition of the real sector" depended on efforts to tackle the problem.
The Belarusian leader said that the situation in the country’s exchange market also caused concern as business entities’ foreign-currency proceeds had dwindled. "Companies were earlier the major suppliers of foreign currencies, but the situation is quite the opposite today," he said.
Mr. Lukashenka ordered the National Bank and the Council of Ministers to devise specific proposals for improving the country’s economic performance.
