BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

05/06/2009

Belarus says IMF issues solved, sees July tranche

By Andrei Makhovsky

MINSK, June 5 (Reuters) - Belarus has resolved all issues raised by the International Monetary Fund and expects the second tranche of a $2.4 billion standby programme possibly in July, Finance Minister Andrei Kharkovets said on Friday.

An IMF mission last month assessed Belarus's progress and the Fund was expected to release $400 million in June, but the mission left without announcing any concrete details.

"We have finished our consultations with experts and agreed on some technical documents ... there are no more issues that would raise experts' doubts," Finance Minister Andrei Kharkovyets told journalists.

"We think further discussion (with the) IMF board will be positive for Belarus ... (The tranche) could come in July," he said.

The IMF's office in Minsk declined to comment.

Kharkovets also indicated that Minsk could ask either for a larger overall loan or an increase in the size of the next tranche. He gave no further details.

"Given we fulfilled the parameters, we will talk with the IMF about the issue of changing parts of financing," he said.

Russia last week said it had abandoned plans to provide its traditional ally with a $500 million loan, the last tranche of a $2 billion deal, over worries about the state of the Belarussian economy.

The economy has suffered from a steep decline in exports as Russia and the European Union -- the chief buyers of Belarussian goods -- experience a slowdown.

Falling exports have also put pressure on the Belarussian rouble, supported by central bank interventions. Data issued by the bank on Friday showed reserves fell to $3.69 billion in May from $3.95 billion in April and a record $5.7 billion last July.

The central bank devalued the rouble 20 percent to the dollar at the beginning of January. The IMF then released the first tranche of the loan worth $788 million. (Writing by Sabina Zawadzki; Editing by Ron Askew)

Source:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/8543185

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