Belarus pays $99.2m off IMF standby loan principal

Payment was made on January 14.

On 14 January Belarus honored its obligation to repay a standby loan taken from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by transferring 64.7 million SDR as the next installment to repay the principal sum, or the equivalent of $99.2 million, representatives of the Belarusian Finance Ministry told.

From January 2009 through April 2010 Belarus accomplished a standby program backed by a $3.5 billion IMF loan. It allowed the country to secure positive dynamics of several economy and monetary management indicators. The repayment of the loan peaks in 2013. The previous time, on 30 December 2013, Belarus paid 109.5 million SDR or the equivalent of $168.3 million.

In 1992-2008 Belarus tapped into IMF resources twice: $217.2 million from the Systemic Transformation Facility and $77.4 million via the standby lending mechanism. In February 2005 Belarus fully paid out those loans.

IMF operation in Belarus is aimed at working together with the government and the National Bank in preparing economic policy documents, focusing on taxation, budgeting, monetary management, exchange rate, and trade policy for the sake of achieving considerable economic growth, low inflation and a stable balance of payments.

The International Monetary Fund is a specialized UN institution headquartered in Washington, USA. 27 December 1945 is the IMF’s official foundation date. Belarus has been an IMF member since 1992. The country’s quota stood at 386.4 million SDR ($542.1 million) at the beginning of 2013.