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Experts of International Monetary Fund arrive in Minsk

The International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s mission arrived in Minsk on March 3 to study the economic situation in the country, BelaPAN said.

The mission, scheduled to stay in the country until March 10, will look at the most recent economic changes.

The visit is being made in pursuance of the IMF's agreement to lend Belarus $2.46 million. It is aimed at drawing up preliminary conclusions ahead of a visit of the Fund's review mission that is expected to travel to Belarus in late April or early May.

Christopher Jarvis, the newly appointed head of the IMF’s mission to Belarus, leads the delegation.

Belarus requested the $2-billion stand-by loan from the IMF last October, saying that it was needed for replenishing the country’s gold and foreign exchange reserves amid the global financial crisis.

IMF missions held talks in Belarus on the matter between late October and the end of December.

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on December 31 that the Fund had agreed to give Belarus the loan.

The executive noted that Belarus faced a “difficult economic situation” and its government was “taking strong actions to stop the decline in reserves, restore economic stability, and lay the groundwork for a resumption of high growth.”

The Belarusian government has already devalued the rubel by 20 percent and agreed to put in place tight fiscal and wage policies in pursuance of the IMF’s recommendations.

The international organization said that it would make available some $787.9 million for Belarus immediately, while “the remainder will be phased thereafter, subject to quarterly reviews.”

In 1995, the IMF stopped issuing loans to Belarus, saying that the country's economic policy fell short of the Fund's recommendations. In early 2004, the Belarusian authorities said that there was no need for the IMF's loans. Since then, the IMF had only provided technical assistance to the country.