BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

22/10/2008

Belarus asks IMF for $2 BLN stabilization loan

MINSK. Oct 22 (Interfax) - The government and the National Bank of Belarus have asked the International Monetary Fund's Board of Governors to issue a $2-billion stabilization loan.

Belarusian National Bank spokesman Anatoly Drozdov told Interfax that he confirms Minsk's loan request.

"There is nothing surprising in the fact that now that the financial crisis has seriously affected the economies of our neighboring countries, the National Bank of Belarus is taking preemptive measures to create a safety cushion, to ensure the undisrupted functioning of the economy and to maintain its growth rate," he said.

The National Bank of Belarus is also considering securing loans from central and commercial banks in other countries, Drozdov said. "Such loans will pursue only one goal - the creation of a safety cushion," he said.

Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said earlier that the Russian government had agreed in principle to issue a $2-billion stabilization loan to Belarus. The first $1 billion will be provided in 2008, and the remaining $1 billion in 2009, he said.

The Russian government provided Belarus with a stabilization loan of $1.5 billion in December 1997.

In early 2004, the authorities in Minsk announced their refusal to hold any further talks on stabilization loans with the IMF.

Source:

http://www.interfax.com/3/438743/news.aspx

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