Business news

MINSK, 28 August (BelTA) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will start offering loans in Belarusian rubles, the bank’s press service told BelTA.

An agreement on opening credit lines in Belarusian rubles for MTBank and Belarusky Narodny Bank (BNB Bank) will be signed on 30 August. Thus, for the first time on record the EBRD will provide funding in Belarusian rubles.

The Belarusian government and the EBRD signed a memorandum of understanding in September 2017 to promote loans in the local currency and reinforce the domestic capital markets. The memorandum confirms the EBRD’s commitment to providing affordable loans to Belarusian banks, microfinance organizations, and small companies in the national currency as part of the EBRD’s program. The program has been created to minimize vulnerabilities of companies in the countries the EBRD operates in with regard to volatile currency exchange rates.

Belarus has been a member of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development since 1992. Since it started working in Belarus, the EBRD has invested over €2 billion in 95 projects in various branches of the national economy.