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National Bank warns against rapid rise in external debt amid wide foreign trade gap

The National Bank of Belarus (NBB) has warned that a rapid increase in the country's external debt amid its wide foreign trade deficit would make the economy more vulnerable and threaten its economic stability and solvency, BelaPAN reports.

In an analytical report focusing on the country's finances in 2009, the NBB says that Belarus' external debt rose by 45.4 percent to $22 billion, or 45 percent of GDP, that year.

The share of the government's debt in the country's foreign arrears increased by 13.3 percentage points to 39.9 percent, according to the NBB.

The Belarusian government borrowed more than $4 billion in 2009.