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Belarus to attract $500 mln loan from China Development Bank by year end, says minister

Belarusian Finance Minister Maxim Yermolovich declined to comment on the course of negotiations with the Russian side on attracting a $600 mln state loan this year

MINSK, June 20. /TASS/. Belarus will attract a state loan worth 3.5 bln yuan ($500 mln) from the China Development Bank by the end of this year, Belarusian Finance Minister Maxim Yermolovich told reporters on Thursday.

"We have signed a memorandum on attracting a loan of 3.5 billion yuan. Now we are working out the terms for attracting this loan. Following the talks, we will sign a loan agreement. We plan to attract 3.5 billion yuan by the end of this year, which is equivalent to more than 500 million dollars," the minister said.

He declined to comment on the course of negotiations with the Russian side on attracting a $ 600 mln state loan this year. The minister also did not talk about the prospects of obtaining the seventh tranche of the $200 mln loan of the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development (EFSD).

Earlier, Belarus’ Finance Minister said that the Chinese loan can be considered as an alternative to the Russian one. Minsk turned to Moscow with a proposal to grant it a $600 mln loan to refinance its debt obligations to Russia this year. On June 12, Yermolovich said there were problems with attracting loans from Russia and the EFSD.

According to Belarus’ budget for 2019, the country can attract external funding up to $1.5 bln.

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