Russia to lend $1.55bn to Belarus

       Russia will grant a loan equivalent to $1.55 billion to Belarus, representatives of the Belarusian Finance Ministry said.
       According to the source, the Belarusian Finance Ministry and the Russian Finance Ministry signed an intergovernmental agreement on granting a state financial credit to the Belarus government in Moscow. The agreement envisages the allocation of financial resources in Russian rubles to the equivalent of $1.55 billion for 15 years, including a five-year grace period.
       The money will be transferred to the central state budget of Belarus within the next few days.
BelTA reported earlier that the loan is supposed to repay and service the state debt and replenish the gold and foreign currency reserves of Belarus. The loan will be granted provided Belarus pays the interest and the principal on previously granted state loans as well as loans granted by the Anticrisis Fund of the Eurasian Economic Community.
      Taking into account the state financial loan of $450 million that Belarus received from Russia on 9 July 2014 the volume of credit support Belarus enjoys (on an untied basis and from the government of the Russian Federation) will be $2 billion this year.