BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

28/01/2009

Belarus hopes to receive $1 bln loan from WB-c.bank

MINSK, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Belarus hopes to receive a $1 billion loan from the World Bank in April or May of this year to help cushion the impact of the global financial crisis, central bank chief Pyotr Prokopovich said on Wednesday. Belarus in January received $788 million of a $2.5 billion IMF loan and $1 billion from a $2 billion Russian loan. The central bank has nonetheless had to spend reserves to prop up the Belarussian rouble, despite a 20 percent devaluation.

"Our work with the World Bank will result in us receiving a loan of about $1 billion over the next few months, in April-May," Prokopovich told a news conference.

"And to do this, we needed the IMF's support. Clinching an agreement with the IMF...opens possibilities for securing financial assistance from the world's main financial centres."

Belarus's export-driven economy has been hit by slower demand and lower prices for its products. This has widened its current account deficit and put pressure on its currency.

The government wants to see how the economy fares in the first quarter before considering changing a 11 percent economic growth forecast for 2009. The IMF sees growth this year at 1.4 percent, against 10 percent in 2008.

Foreign investors' interest in Belarus has increased in the last 18 months after the ex-Soviet state received its maiden sovereign ratings.

Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's affirmed its B+ foreign currency rating on Belarus on Monday, saying the IMF and other loans would help ease the initial impact of the crisis. (Reporting by Andrei Makhovsky; editing by Patrick Graham)

Source:

http://in.reuters.com/article/asiaCompanyAndMarkets/idINLS50562720090128

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