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Lukashenka: IMF ready to offer new loan to Belarus

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is ready to offer a new loan to Belarus, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said while meeting with university students in Mahilyow on May 27.

"But we say [to the IMF] that if you put forward the same conditions as before we will not be able to fulfill them," he said, referring to the Fund's requirement that the Belarusian government should freeze wages in the public sector and take other austerity measures.

"Whatever experts might say to convince me, I have told them that for me as president it is the people that matters most. If we have made a promise, we must deliver on it, we will enjoy some trust then. They realize this and today we are holding a dialogue with them. I think we will reach agreement [on a new loan] on very beneficial terms," Mr. Lukashenka said. //BelaPAN