North Macedonia Seeks Funding to Help Coronavirus Hit to Budget

(Bloomberg) --

North Macedonia plans to seek a 400 million-euro ($427 million) bridge loan from foreign lenders as the country tries to boost liquidity, fund the planned budget deficit and take measures to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

The government will start talks on a 12-month loan Monday, Finance Minister Nina Angelovska told reporters. It will be repaid with a Eurobond sale that will likely take place late in 2020 or early next year. The government will also seek funding of 87 million euros from the International Monetary Fund and 100 million euros from the World Bank, she said.

The cabinet in the Balkan country was planning to sell bonds on the international markets in the second half of 2020. It now needs the funding urgently but likely won’t have to revise the budget, currently planned with a deficit of 2.3% of economic output, Angelovska said.

The government announced Sunday the first death from the coronavirus, a 57-year-old woman in the northern town of Kumanovo. North Macedonia has registered 115 patients infected with the virus, one of whom has recovered. It has closed all borders and has imposed a night curfew.

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