Belarus admits a deficit of foreign exchange reserves for debt payments in 2026. Although on paper they amount to $13.7 billion, only $5.3 billion is available for operational payments. The Ministry of Finance plans to attract additional resources from Russia. This was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, writes UNN.
Belarus's foreign exchange reserves appear significant on paper – $13.7 billion as of November 1 – but liquidity is catastrophically lacking. Only $5.3 billion is available for operational external payments; about $7 billion is accounted for by gold, which due to sanctions will have to be sold at a discount; another $1.4 billion is IMF special drawing rights, effectively unavailable for payments. Thus, real resources for settlements are limited and vulnerable.
In 2026, debt payments exceed these capabilities. The Republic of Belarus needs to allocate 17.7 billion Belarusian rubles for repayment and 6 billion for servicing obligations, which totals about $8 billion at the current exchange rate. Due to this gap, reserves could quickly run out if relying only on internal sources.
Official recognition of this risk came from Finance Minister Yuri Seliverstov: the regime plans to attract additional resources from Russia to cover the deficit. This position deviates from recent statements by the National Bank about "self-sufficiency" and intentions to use internal reserves, including a planned reduction in reserves by $4.5 billion.
Even if the Kremlin agrees to help, Moscow's capabilities are limited: the Russian budget has a large deficit, and funds for transfers are shrinking. Therefore, the option of a full-fledged "drying up" of Belarus's finances is real: the prospect of "no money and no money will be" becomes the baseline scenario for the coming year.