Belarusian Agriculture Has Picked up a Record Amount of Debt

The share of toxic debts in agriculture reached 19.4%.

In these five years, the authorities have provided tremendous state support to agriculture. Despite this, statistics say that farmers have accumulated more debts than ever before, banki24.by reports.

As of August 1, the total debts of large and medium-sized agricultural enterprises reached BYN 14.998 billion. This is the maximum amount of liabilities of farmers in monetary terms in recent years.

Since the beginning of the year, the amount of farmers' debts has grown by 6%. For comparison: for the whole of 2019, agricultural debts increased by 9.2%, and in 2018 - by 6.8%.

In agriculture, the level of problem debts is traditionally very high. By August 1, overdue liabilities of farmers amounted to BYN 2.915 billion. The share of toxic debts in agriculture reached 19.4% (every fifth ruble).

Compared to agriculture, the average quality of debt in the economy is much higher. The share of delinquencies as a whole was 6.8%, and in industry - 6.7%.

Total debts are liabilities for loans and borrowings, as well as creditor indebtedness. On the reporting date, agriculture has accumulated 5.975 billion BYN in loans and borrowings. Since the beginning of 2020, the amount of debt has grown by 5.8%, although for the entire 2019, the growth was 4.3%.

The most rapid growth of debts on credits and loans in agriculture is observed in the months of the devaluation of the Belarusian ruble. This indicates a large share of foreign currency loans to farmers. Each time a loan is impaired, such loans are adjusted for exchange differences.

Overdue loans and borrowings from farmers amounted to BYN 415.4 million, and the share of such liabilities in the total boiler was 7%. In 2016—2017, the share of bad debts exceeded 13%. The authorities then repackaged "garbage" loans and loans to farmers, which led to a formal reduction in toxicity.

As of August 1, the agricultural credit facility amounted to BYN 9.023 billion. Since the beginning of the year, it has grown by 6.2%.

The maximum amount of credit in agriculture was recorded a month earlier - BYN 9.055 billion as of July 1. Since there was another ruble devaluation in August, the July record is almost guaranteed to be broken.

Overdue loans in rural areas reached BYN 2.5 billion. Its share in the total amount of creditors amounted to 27.7% (every fourth ruble).

The net profit of agricultural organizations increased by 5.5% to BYN 669.5 million. However, the authorities provide information on the farmers' net profit, taking into account state support. If we subtract the state support, it turns out that there are not 8% of unprofitable farms in Belarus, but more than 50%.