External public debt has increased by $2 billion since the beginning of the year

Since the beginning of the year, the external public debt of Belarus has grown by 14.7%, or $2 billion, taking into account exchange rate differences , to $ 15.7 billion as of  September 1, the Ministry of Finance reports.

The entire public debt of Belarus as of September 1, 2017 amounted to 39.6 billion rubles, having increased by 2.7 billion rubles, or 7.2%, compared to the beginning of the year.

In January-August, the state attracted external loans worth $2.656 billion. The main volume, $1.4 billion, is the proceeds from the placement of Eurobonds. Major creditors were also the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development (two tranches for $600 million), the Russian government and banks ($353.1 million), Chinese banks ($190.4 million), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development ($108.7 million). dollars), EBRD (3.6 million).

Belarus spent $697.8 million to pay off external public debt over eight months ($264.3 million to the Russian government, $217.5 million to Chinese banks, $176.6 million to the EFSD, $38.5 million to the IBRD, and $38.5 million to the United States  ). 0.7 million, EBRD - 0.2 million).

Since the beginning of the year, domestic public debt has decreased by 0.9 billion rubles, or by 8.7%, to 9.3 billion rubles.

In January-August 2017, domestic foreign currency government bonds were placed for legal entities and individuals in the amount of $414.1 million. Bonds were redeemed for 997.9 million dollars and 170.5 million rubles.

The Ministry of Finance is concerned about the growth of public debt servicing costs, the share of these payments in the volume of republican budget expenditures in 2016 amounted to more than 10%, while in 2010 it was about 2%. The share of borrowings last year amounted to 41.7% of GDP, with a critical value of 45-50%.

It is already known that next year Belarus will need new borrowings to settle its external debt. External liabilities denominated in foreign currency will amount to $2.5 billion in 2018, about $1.7 million is planned to be refinanced through new loans. In particular, we are talking about a new placement of Eurobonds.