Russian bank offers businesses to take out loans in Belarus – media

High interest rates in Russian banks have forced Russian companies to look for money in neighbouring countries. Sberbank, a Russian majority state-owned banking and financial services company, has offered Russian companies the opportunity to take out loans in Belarus, where its subsidiary bank operates. Source: The Moscow Times

Details: The newspaper notes that the refinancing rate in Belarus is only 9.5%, and the average interest rate on corporate loans in Belarusian roubles rose to 10.27% per year from August to September.

Short-term loan rates for small and medium-sized businesses in Russia are approaching 30% annually. The scale of Russian banks' subsidiaries in Belarus is smaller, as is the size of loans. The lending market in Belarus is 40 times smaller than in Russia.

At the same time, the publication writes that the Russian Central Bank has warned that companies should consider currency risk and exchange rate fluctuations when taking out foreign currency loans.

The lack of affordable loans in Russia could lead to the collapse of industries.

Background: The average maximum deposit rate at the top ten retail banks in Russia rose by 0.74 percentage points to 20.91% in the first ten days of November, the highest since 2009.

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