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Replacement of Russian loan with Chinese one to have no effect on Belarus’ budget

MINSK, 19 November (BelTA) – The replacement of a Russian loan with a Chinese one will have no effect on Belarus’ budget, BelTA learned from Belarusian First Deputy Finance Minister Yuri Seliverstov in the parliament on 19 November.

It was stated previously that Minsk is no longer in negotiations with Moscow on borrowing up to $600 million from the Russian government and intends to borrow $500 million from China by the end of the year. Members of the parliament wondered how the change of plans would affect the state budget.

“The volume of money we intend to borrow from China is roughly equivalent to the volume of assets we negotiated for with Russia,” the first deputy finance minister explained.

“Since we pursue a policy of diversifying our borrowings and since we have commitments to repay the loans in yuans we’ve borrowed from China before, the change will have a positive effect as a whole,” Yuri Seliverstov said.

BelTA reported earlier that Belarus intends to get a Chinese loan to the tune of ¥3.5 billion by the end of the year. The sum is equivalent to roughly $500 million. Yuri Seliverstov stressed that the plans still remain in force.

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