Belarus pays $79.3m off IMF standby loan principal

      On 31 December Belarus honored its obligation to repay a standby loan taken from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by transferring 54.7 million SDR as the next installment to repay the principal sum, or the equivalent of $79.3 million, representatives of the Belarusian Finance Ministry said.
       The previous time, on 22 December 2014, Belarus transferred the equivalent of $79.7 million.
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.
     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.