Belarus’ external public debt at $3.7bn in early 2009
At the beginning of 2009 Belarus’ external public debt stood at $3.7 billion, or 6.5% of the GDP. The figure is within the economically safe range, Belarusian Finance Minister Andrei Kharkovets told a session of the Finance Ministry board on February 6.
According to the Minister, in order to improve the quality of management of foreign liabilities in Belarus it is necessary to work out a strategy of government borrowing for 2009-2012 and determine the annual admissible borrowing volumes.
With limited domestic resources, it is necessary to channel efforts into finding external ones, believes Andrei Kharkovets.
In 2008 the Finance Ministry attracted $1.5 billion in foreign loans in line with plans.
