Belarus pays off the principal debt of the IMF standby loan

           Honoring its obligation to repay a standby loan taken from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Belarus transferred 64.7 million SDR as the fourth installment to repay the principal debt, or an equivalent of $99.4 million, representatives of the Belarusian Finance Ministry told media.
           This year Belarus has made three principal payments already: $100.3 million in April, $97.8 million in July and $84.3 million on 1 October 2012.
In late 2008 the Belarusian government contacted the International Monetary Fund with a request to sign a standby loan agreement.
          As a result, on 12 January 2009 the IMF authorized a 15-month program to allocate about $2.46 billion to Belarus. After the first review the sum was raised up to $3.46 billion following the relevant request of the Belarusian side. The program ended in April 2010. It ensured positive dynamics of several indicators of the Belarusian economy and monetary management.
         IMF operation in Belarus is aimed at cooperation 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.