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Finance minister promises tight monetary, fiscal policy

 

Belarus will pursue a tight monetary and fiscal policy in accordance with conditions attached to the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC)'s stabilization loan, Finance Minister Andrey Kharkavets told reporters in Minsk on December 7.

Earlier in the day, the EurAsEC Anti-crisis Fund's board approved the disbursement of another $440-million tranche of the $3-billion loan.

The Belarusian authorities have implemented a macroeconomic program supported by the loan since June 2011, Mr. Kharkavets said. Belarus had to apply for the loan amid a critically low level of gold and foreign exchange rules, a shortage of hard currency and soaring inflation.

The authorities have already made "serious macroeconomic adjustments" since the beginning of the program and the economic situation in Belarus has stabilized, he said.

"That's why it is with a deep sense of gratitude that I treat today's decision by the Fund's board, which confirms the efficiency of the measures taken," Mr. Kharkavets said.

He noted that Belarus viewed the program supported by the loan as an important tool of conducting a "neat macroeconomic policy." // BelaPAN