Russia will help to refinance Belarusian foreign debt in 2015

In 2015, Russia will provide USD 1.3 billion worth financial assistance to Belarus. On April 30th, 2015 USD 110 million was transferred to the Finance Ministry account and payments on two loans have been deterred until Q3 2015 (USD 750 million and USD 450 million). In 2015, Belarus requires additional USD 1 billion to service her public debt. The loan from Russia may somewhat relieve the pressure on Belarus’ currency market and reduce fluctuations of the national currency against the currencies basket. As a result, interest rates on loans from international institutions may reduce and Belarus may put off the issue of Eurobonds until later. However, deterring foreign debt payments does not solve the overall problem with public debt payment. In 2016, Belarus will require more than USD 3 billion to service her international liabilities.