In April 2022, the EBRD’s Board of Governors decided to suspend access to the Bank’s resources by Belarus, in response to its support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Bank has closed its office in Minsk. Belarus continues to be a shareholder of the Bank.
In addition, we remain deeply concerned by the situation with human rights and freedom of speech inside Belarus. Ever since the disputed Presidential election of August 2020, we have urged the authorities to pursue an inclusive national dialogue to explore a way forward.
In the light of our Governors’ decision in April 2022, the Bank has notified relevant borrowers that their right to request any further drawdowns under their loan agreements with EBRD has been suspended.
Furthermore, the Bank notified relevant project entities that their right to any further disbursements under any grant agreements has also been suspended.
In case of additional questions, inquiries can be submitted in writing to: ebrdbelarus@ebrd.com
The EBRD’s latest Belarus strategy was adopted on 7 September 2016
Belarus's policy response to the coronavirus crisis
The EBRD is monitoring Belarus's policy response to the coronavirus pandemic. Our biweekly publication identifies the major channels of disruption as well as selected impact and response indicators.
GDP forecast for Belarus’s Real GDP growth in 2022 -4.0%
GDP forecast for Belarus’s Real GDP growth in 2023 0.0%
After a better than expected performance in 2021, the economy entered a period of high uncertainty and stress in 2022. Despite being under sanctions, GDP growth reached 2.3 per cent in 2021 on the back of double-digit (in percentage terms) real growth of exports and revived household consumption. On the production side, the growth of industrial production has been decelerating since May 2021, due to the ending of base effects and possibly some early impact from international sanctions. The current account posted a surplus largely due to a strong trade surplus. Such an outcome alleviated external financing pressures and the currency stabilised in 2021. However, inflation accelerated in the second half of 2021 and then stabilised in the narrow range above 10 per cent at the beginning of 2022, before soaring to 15.9 per cent in March due to the new wave of stricter sanctions and associated shortages. Exports of main commodities will likely be severely hit by the disrupted logistics of the new sanctions regime. In addition, close trade links to a recession-hit Russian economy would affect the rest of the export industry, leading to a decline of economic activity in 2022. The economy is forecast to contract by 4.0 per cent in 2022. Bleak prospects remain in 2023, when stagnation of the economy is expected. The uncertainty remains exceptionally high and economic prospects are subject to geo-political developments.
