Belarus needs Russian $3bn loan to pay off debts
Belarus seeks a loan from Russia to avoid a blow on the country’s gold and foreign currency reserves.
Belarus is asking Russia for $3bn. The money may be allocated on condition of the fulfillment of the previous credit programmes, Russian Minister of Finance Anton Siluvanov said.
The Belarusian government is looking for ways of diversification of possible sources of money and we need the credit to pay the old debts, Alpari chief analyst in Minsk Vadzim Iosub thinks.
“We need to pay debts including the Russian credits and European bonds. We have the money but it will strike a major blow on the gold and foreign currency reserves if we pay debts without a new influx of money. If we pay the debts, the gold and currency reserves will be depleted and it will not be clear how to pay debts next year.”
If will be necessary to borrow money in any case. Belarus is asking the Eurasian Stabilization and Development Fund for money too but the fund has not made its decision yet. An IMF mission is also expected to discuss the possibility of giving a credit to Belarus. There will be other variants if Russia does not give us a credit.
The Russian Minister of Finance probably meant the credit of the EurAsEC anti-crisis fund when he was speaking about the previous programmes. We have not received the third tranche because we have not fulfilled the terms of the credit. In general, Belarus usually fulfils its duties, the expert added.
