Belarus: Industrial production expands for second consecutive month in May

In May, industrial production expanded 0.5% over the same month last year, coming in below the stronger 2.9% expansion tallied in April. May’s print marks the second expansion in industrial production since December 2014. According to the National Statistical Committee (BELSTAT), the reading was driven by an expansion in manufacturing, which more than offset a contraction in the three remaining components of the index.

Meanwhile, annual average growth in industrial production increased from minus 4.9% in April to minus 4.2% in May.

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast participants see industrial production contracting 1.1% in 2016, which is up 0.4 percentage points from last month’s Consensus. For 2017, panelists see industrial output growing 1.3%.