BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

20/09/2007

Belarusian Expert Predicts Financial Crisis

Former National Bank head Stanislau Bahdankevich told journalists in Minsk on September 19 that Belarus is on the verge of a serious financial crisis, Belapan reported. Bahdankevich said the country's deficit in foreign trade amounted to some $1.5 billion in the first six months of this year, compared with some $2 billion in all of 2006. The expert warned that the government's foreign debt might soar to more than 50 percent of its budget by 2011 if the trends continue. "The authorities do not see or prefer not to see the bomb that they are sitting on. They do not tackle their financial problems, but only make them worse," Bahdankevich noted. JM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2007/09/3-cee/cee-200907.asp