BELARUS DIGEST

Apparently, the IMF mission to Belarus was satisfied with the efforts the country is making to tackle its worst economic crises since early 1990-s.

The fund agreed to extend the second tranche of the financial aid package for Belarus:

WASHINGTON — The International Monetary Fund said Wednesday it will lend an additional $1 billion to cash-strapped Belarus, bringing the total provided by the Washington-based institution to $3.4 billion.

“This increase is justified because Belarus’ financing needs arising from the global financial crisis have increased, and because the government and the central bank are making strong efforts to solve their problems,” the IMF said.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko accused Russia of punishing Belarus, its largest trading partner, for refusing to recognize the independence of rebel-held regions of Georgia. Russia denied any link and said the money was withheld for lack of a currency agreement.

Read more at Forbes.com.

WASHINGTON – The economic situation in Belarus has worsened since the eastern European country signed a $2.46 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund in January, the IMF said Tuesday.

“The fall in demand in major trading partners, including Russia, has hit Belarus’s exporters hard,” Chris Jarvis, the IMF’s Belarus mission chief, said in a statement following a weeklong visit to Minsk.

Additionally, “The devaluation of the ruble on January 2 and the peg to a basket of currencies have reduced Belarus’s vulnerability to the external shocks it is facing,” Jarvis said.

The IMF already has disbursed $800 million in loans to Belarus. The remainder is scheduled to be disbursed by early 2010.
“We believe that with the right policies Belarus can meet the challenges it faces,” Jarvis said.

IMF officials are scheduled to return to Belarus in late April or early May.

Source: Dow Jones Newswires (March 10, 2009)

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The International Monetary Fund gave final approval Monday to an emergency loan of 2.46 billion dollars to help Belarus cope with the global financial crisis.

The IMF said the 15-month standby credit was approved by its executive board “in support of the country’s efforts to adjust to external shocks” and will allow the eastern European nation to draw some 787.9 million dollars immediately. The remainder will be made available subject to quarterly reviews.

The IMF loan is unusually large, representing about four times Belarus’s quota, the maximum amount an IMF member country pays to finance the Washington-based institution. Normally an IMF member country can draw up to 100 percent annually of its quota, and 300 percent cumulatively. However, the IMF has granted exceptional access to financing to distressed countries, such as a loan to Georgia in September after its armed conflict with Russia.

“Belarus is experiencing serious economic problems,” said Takatoshi Kato, IMF deputy managing director. “External vulnerabilities have been exposed by adverse terms of trade movements, falling demand from trading partners, and difficulties in securing external finance, leading to a decline in international reserves. In the face of these shocks and the adjustment needed to contain them, the economy is likely to slow in 2009.”

Officials in Minsk have said the IMF loan was needed to make up for lost export revenues because foreign countries were having trouble paying for its goods amid the global credit crunch.

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