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having financed the construction and commissioning of four biogas CHPs in Grodno Oblast and Brest Oblast.
The EBRDis targeting investments in infrastructure projects and renovate bridges in Belarus. Two major projects - estimated at a total of €150-160mn – will cover 60 bridges, the minister informed.
6.2 Debt
Source: CEIC
Belarus - Gross external debt 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Gross external debt (USD bn) 131,628 133,602 145,982 160,653 152,642 152,327 155,443
Gross external debt (% GDP)
53.0 54.6 50.7 51.9 58.1 76.1 74.8
Belarus' foreign debt amounted to $16.7bn as of March 2019 , the country's Finance Ministry said on March 29. The foreign debt amounted to $16.7bn, decreasing by $0.2bn or 1.3% from the beginning of the year, the ministry said. In January and February, Belarus attracted external loan of $139.8mn. For the first two months of 2019, Belarus spent $410.9mn to repay foreign debt. As of March 1, domestic public debt amounted to BYN8.6bn ($4bn), decreasing by 2.7% from the beginning of the year.
Near-term external financing risks have declined due to the pre-financing in 2017 of payments due in 2018 through market and official borrowing, and due to an increase in international reserves.
FX debt service is $2.6bn (not including Eurobond payment) in 2018,
which will be covered by a mix of multilateral financing, local market issuance, use of FX cash buffers and potentially a new international bond issuance. FX liquidity in the local market and FX government revenues derived from custom duties and trade of oil products further mitigate near-term financing risks.
Belarus's gross external financing requirement (current account deficit plus medium- and long-term amortisations) has declined to 101% of international reserves, from a previous peak of 223% in 2014.
Sustained reduction in refinancing risks will depend on continued progress on diversifying external financing sources , refinancing opportunities of Russian bilateral debt and development of the local market. The next Eurobond amortisation is not until 2023.
Who is buying Belarusian eurobonds?
Belarus tapped the international debt market on February 21 for the first time this year with a new $600mn issue of 12-year Eurobond with 6.2% coupon following January's drop in the nation's foreign exchange reserves by $838mn, or 11.5% month-on-month, to $6.477bn.
The bond follows on from last year’s highly successful bond placement. In June 2017, Belarus placed $1.4bn worth of dual-tranche US
26 BELARUS Country Report April 2019 www.intellinews.com