No money to pay off debts: Dictator takes new loans

Belarus plans to refinance its external debt in 2013.

This statement was made by Belarusian minister of finance Andrei Kharkavets at an extended meeting of the commission on budget, finance and taxation policy of the “house of representatives” on September 26, BelaPAN news agency reports.

He remarked that Belarus enters a “period of maximum external debt payments” in 2013. “The sum of payments is expected to double in comparison with this year's payments and reach $3.1 billion,” the minister stressed.

In this regard, the government sets a task to refinance a part of the debt package, Kharkavets says. “We'll work in the following directions: firstly, receiving two tranches of the EurAsEC Anticrisis Fund's loan at a sum of $0.9bn. Secondly, we've already begun our work this year to enter the international capital markets to place there government bonds in 2013,”  the Ministry of Finance head said.

He assured that Belarus's economic conditions would be “stable” in 2013. “The external debt will amount to 21.1% of the GDP (we have a limit of not more than 25%). The internal debt will be 3% with a limit of not more than 20%. Payments for the government debt will be 7.8% of country's fiscal revenues (the limit is not more than 10%),” Andrei Kharkavets said.