Belarus Named Desirable Amount of IMF Loan

Belarus expects to attract $3.5-8 billion under the new program with the IMF. This was announced by Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Miasnikovich on June 1, speaking on the work of the IMF mission to Belarus on June 1-14, as well as on the amount of bailout from the fund.

"We have set a task with the National Bank to work with this mission, as well as the next mission, while preparing a draft program for the direct representation to the IMF board of directors, and we estimate the size of bailout at $3.5-8 billion," BelTA quotes the Premier.

The program is planned for three to five years, said Mikhail Miasnikovich.

"The price of money (the alleged loan) is 2 times lower than the cost of the EurAsEC Crisis Fund loan," said the Prime Minister.

According to the Belarusian Prime Minister, he met with the IMF head in Belarus not so long ago. "We discussed issues for two hours," said Mikhail Miasnikovich. "Mission, currently working here, came to monitor the implementation of the previous mission's recommendations. But we decided to combine the work of the mission with the consideration of approaches to the formation of the next cooperation program," said Mikhail Miasnikovich.

Miasnikovich Compared IMF with Semaphore

According to the Prime Minister of Belarus, the IMF in the public understanding is an organization that provides favorable loans. "However, the IMF is a sort of semaphore, showing the light to the international community: red - means we must abstain, yellow - there is some anxiety," said Mikhail Miasnikovich.

"We hope for a green in the work with this and perhaps the next mission, which indicates that one can attract both the IMF resources and those of private capital that one can come here and solve projects with good efficiency," concluded the Prime Minister.

As Telegraf previously reported, Government and National Bank of Belarus applied to the International Monetary Fund on May 31 for the loan, told by the government. "Consultations on the relevant program of the Government of the Republic of Belarus and the National Bank will be held in the framework of the International Monetary Fund, which work begins in Belarus on June 1, 2011," said in a statement. 

Telegraf.By