The Belarusian economy that faced Western sanctions pressure last year has managed to withstand and achieve growth contrary to the forecasts of the initiators, Belarusian Ambassador to Russia Dmitry Krutoy told Sputnik.
According to the envoy, sanction imposers and analysts of international organizations expected that Belarus' economy would contract from 20% to 30%.
"We can say that this plan has failed. Last year our GDP declined by 4.7%, but at the end of the five months of 2023 the Belarusian economy showed a growth of 0.9%," Krutoy said, adding that the government's goal of annual growth of 3.8% is "achievable."
The diplomat noted that oil refining and potash sales, which have come under the most pressure, are showing "recovery growth."
Efforts to combat unemployment and falling real wages have also been successful, Krutoy stressed, pointing out that the unemployment rate last year and this year is at a historic low for Belarus – 3.5%.
"On the two-year horizon, people will not feel the impact of sanctions and Western pressure. And this is probably one of the main tasks facing the country's leadership," the envoy underlined.
According to the diplomat, one of the cornerstones of Belarus' response to the "sanctions hysteria of the West" is the redirection of flows to friendly countries instead of Ukraine and the EU.
The loss of markets in Europe and Ukraine amounted to $10.5 billion in losses for the Belarusian economy, which was almost completely replaced by new markets.
"About $6.5 billion worth of products were diverted to the Russian market, another $2.2 billion to other friendly countries – China, other Asian countries, partially to Africa and Latin America," Krutoy remarked. "We missed the maximum by about only $1.7 billion."
The ambassador added that the country succeeded in replacing the financing of all investment projects that had been cut off by Western institutions with its budget and the resources of Russia.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development suspended the programs of cooperation with the republic after the suppression of opposition protests in Belarus against the results of the presidential election in 2020 and the imposition of Western sanctions against Minsk.
In addition, due to the Russian military operation in Ukraine and the support of Belarusian authorities for Russia, the bank announced the closure of its offices in Moscow and Minsk and decided to immediately suspend access to the bank's finances for both countries.
Amid events in Ukraine, the World Bank has also stopped its programs in Belarus since March 2022, and the bank has not approved a single loan to the country since May 2020.