Ministry Of Finance Is Looking For Money From " Arabian Friends "

The Deputy Minister of Finance hopes for loans from the Gulf countries, "taking into account the friendly relations".

Ministry of Finance of Belarus considers the interaction with the funds registered in the Gulf countries as promising. This is stated in the article of Deputy Finance Minister Andrei Belkavets, published in the journal "Finance. Accounting. Audit," BelTA informs.

"As investments in our country increase, the funding opportunities are reduced and we come to the need to find new sources of concessional resources. In this context, cooperation with the funds registered in the Gulf countries is seen as promising," - Andrei Belkovets said.

The Gulf countries are home to the Abu Dhabi Development Fund, the Saudi Fund for Development, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the OPEC Fund for International Development, the Islamic Development Bank, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development and the Arab Bank for Economic Development of Africa.

The funds follow certain approaches to crediting: the share of their participation in the project is not more than 50% of the total cost, the term of the loan - up to 25 years, the interest rate does not exceed 6% per annum and depends on the level of income per capita (the poorest countries receive funds on the most favorable terms).

Most of the funds are not limited to Arab countries, but finance projects around the world.

Belarus has already had experience of cooperation with the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), and in 2002 a loan agreement was signed for the reconstruction of a polyester thread plant in Svetlahorsk. Later on, the cooperation was put on hold, but in 2018, the possibility of attracting funds from KFAED for the reconstruction of the Hrodna Oncology Dispensary building complex was explored.

The KFAED assessment mission worked in Belarus from April 21 to May 1, 2019, resulting in the agreement on the terms of the loan. The Fund will take part in financing the project and will provide a concessional loan of 7.5 million Kuwaiti dinars (equivalent to $25.5 million) for a period of 24 years.

"Given the friendly relations that Belarus has with a number of countries in the Middle East, we have a real opportunity to expand the range of partners and get additional sources of concessional credit resources," - Andrei Belkavets summed up.