Belarus Spent $1 Billion on Repayment of Foreign Debt This Year

New external loans are attracted for this purpose.

As of August 1, 2019, the public debt of Belarus amounted to Br42.7 billion and decreased by Br2.6 billion, or 5.8%, compared to the beginning of the year. The Ministry of Finance informs.

The external public debt amounted to $16.5 billion on August 1. It decreased by $0.4 billion (including exchange rate fluctuations) or 2.3% since the beginning of the year.

In January-July, Belarus attracted $559.8 million of external government loans: $448 million - the government and banks of Russia; $57.9 million - IBRD; $33.4 million - Export-Import Bank of China, $20.5 million - EBRD and NIS.

Since the beginning of the year, $1.029 billion has been spent on the repayment of the external public debt, including: 410.9 million dollars for Chinese banks; 403.9 million dollars for the Russian government; 176.5 million dollars for the European Fund for Reconstruction and Development; 36.6 million dollars for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development; 0.8 million dollars for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ISS); and 0.7 million dollars for the US Commodity Credit Corporation (USCCC).

As of August 1, the domestic public debt amounted to 9.2 billion rubles, having increased by 0.3 billion rubles (including exchange rate fluctuations), or by 3% from the beginning of the year.

In January-July, domestic foreign currency government bonds for legal entities and individuals in the amount equivalent to $651.2 million were placed. Currency government bonds for legal entities and individuals in the amount of $160.3 million and Br227.2 million have been redeemed.

It will be recalled that in 2018, the budget provided Br2.5 billion to service the public debt, which is 25.2% higher than was estimated in 2017. In 2019, these costs will reach almost Br3 billion.