Republic

MINSK, 1 June (BelTA) - Belarus is set to raise $3.5-8 billion under the new program with the IMF, Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich told reporters on 1 June. On May 31 the Government and the National Bank of Belarus sent a letter to the International Monetary Fund applying for the loan. An IMF mission is in Minsk on 1-14 June. The parties are expected to hold consultations on a relevant program of action of the Government and National Bank of Belarus. The mission will examine the current economic situation in the country, discuss the measures taken by the Government and the National Bank to stabilize the situation on the domestic market, and determine possible IMF support to the country. “We are set to discuss with this mission and, possibly the next one, the draft loan program to be submitted to the IMF Board of Directors. We are looking to raise $3.5 billion to $8 billion. The program is expected to run for three to five years,” Mikhail Myasnikovich said. “The price of the money (the expected loan – note by BelTA) is two times cheaper than the loan of the EurAsEC Anti-Crisis Fund,” said the Prime Minister. “Yesterday I met with the head of the IMF Office in Belarus. We discussed the issues for two hours. The IMF mission is in Belarus to monitor the implementation of the recommendations it gave last time. But we decided to combine the work of the mission with the consideration of approaches to another program of cooperation with the IMF,” Mikhail Myasnikovich said. In his words, public understanding of the IMF is that this is the organization that provides loans on favorable terms. At the same time the IMF is a so-called semaphore which shows the international community which light is on: red means to refrain, yellow that there is certain disturbances. “We hope that the IMF during this and, perhaps its next mission, will change the light to green that indicates that the climate in the country is good for IMF and private capital,” the Premier said.

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