Chief Executive Officer of Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI), which owns 88% of the Belarusian Priorbank, Herbert Stepic, said at a meeting with analysts in London that 30% devaluation of the ruble is possible in Belarus. "In connection with the measures we have taken, we see no significant risk to our cooperation," he said.
According to Herbert Stepic, Russia could increase its influence in former Soviet republics, as it is «rapidly developing» and «getting embedded into valuable assets,» while Belarus is trying to take «recovery credit» of $3 billion from Russia and other former Soviet partners, reports site UDF.
At the same time, the chief economist at HSBC Holdings Plc in Moscow, Alexander Morozov, talking about Belarus’s direct exposure to risks, described «the possibility of an uncontrolled devaluation of the Belarusian currency or disruptions in the economy due to lack of imported inputs.» «Significant external imbalances and the low level of international reserves represent a serious risk to the sovereign credit rating of the country,» he said.
