MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th September, 2020) The external debt of Belarus has increased by 3.6 percent over the first three quarters of 2020 to reach $17.7 billion Dollars, the country's Finance Ministry said Wednesday.
"External public debt as of September 1, 2020 amounted to $17.7 billion, having increased from the beginning of the year by $0.6 billion (taking into account exchange rate differences), or by 3.6 percent," the ministry said in a statement.
According to the Ministry of Finance, between January and August, Belarus drew a total equivalent of $1.92 billion including $1.39 billion in bonds placed on foreign financial markets.
Over the same period of time, Belarus repaid the equivalent $1.16 billion in debt, with $533.3 million going to Russia, $387.1 million to China and around $250 million to various international creditors and development banks.
The highest increase came from the government's internal obligation, having taken out the equivalent of $4 billion in the January-August window, an increase of 20.6 percent. Nearly $300 million equivalent in government-issued bonds were acquired by legal entities and private citizens in that period of time.
This way, the total sovereign debt of Belarus came in at about $22 billion, a 29 percent increase from the previous year, mostly owed to domestic lending.
Belarus' credit rating standing, between Moody's and S&P estimates, remains in the largely stable B category.
