MINSK, 5 August (BelTA) – The Belarusian Finance Ministry intends to borrow $20 million from the OPEC Fund for the sake of fighting COVID-19, BelTA learned from Belarusian Deputy Finance Minister Andrei Belkovets on 5 August.
The official said: “A deal with the OPEC Fund is in development. It is a new creditor we haven't worked with before. The creditor is very important for us from the point of view of future prospects of diversification of sources to borrow money from.”
The money will be allocated for the sake of fighting the coronavirus but not as a tied loan. The money will be used to compensate the state budget's previous expenditures on fighting the pandemic.
“$20 million is the first tranche. The sum can be raised to $50 million,” Andrei Belkovets noted.
Previously Belarus borrowed €90 million from the World Bank for the sake of fighting the coronavirus. Finance Minister Yuri Seliverstov explained that the money gradually reimburses the state budget spending on fighting the coronavirus. “This is why it is normal that COVID-19 is dying down while money keeps flowing in. The money will help reimburse previous budget appropriations,” he explained.
