Without reforms, the Belarusian economy may face a new currency crisis, experts of the International Monetary Fund say.
“We recently submitted a new staff report [IMF] on Belarus. We note that [foreign exchange] reserves are at a low level, while the need for currency is at a high level. This is a problem and can cause a new devaluation, as dollarization in Belarus is at a high level,” said the IMF’s permanent representative for Central and Eastern Europe, Bas Bakker.
On Wednesday, Bakker spoke at the Fitch Ratings international agency conference on macroeconomics and the banking sector of Belarus, primepress.by reports.
According to IMF estimates, Belarus’ external debt, along with state guarantees that were issued to enterprises, is 51% of the country’s GDP.
“It is difficult to service such a debt in the absence of decisive steps to reform the economy. It can create problems in the financial and banking sectors,” Bakker said.
According to IMF standards, as of February 1, 2018, Belarus’ external debt was $ 17.9 billion. About 88% of the debt is foreign loans received by enterprises under state guarantees. As of March 1, 2018, the gold and foreign currency reserves of Belarus amounted to $ 7.1 billion.
“The good news is that together with the economic bloc of the government, we have a common opinion about what needs to be done in terms of reforms. Differences are in the speed of implementation of reforms … And this means that weakness will persist,” the IMF representative said.
Alyaksandr Helahayeu, belsat.eu
