MINSK, 3 March (BelTA) – Belarus and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will continue negotiations in April 2016, BelTA learned from Belarusian First Deputy Economy Minister Alexander Zaborovsky during the session of the Economic Policy Commission of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus on 3 March.
Alexander Zaborovsky said: “I believe that the dialogue with our colleagues from the IMF will continue during spring meetings of the World Bank group and the IMF in Washington in April.”
Alexander Zaborovsky also remarked that, in particular, work with these international financial agencies will be built on the basis of the Belarus government action program.
The official stated that a positive balance of payments is a source for increasing the gold and foreign exchange reserves including via external finance. Programs on cooperation with the Eurasian Stabilization and Development Fund and the International Monetary Fund represent one of the key factors.
Alexander Zaborovsky also drew attention to the fact that the Belarus government action program for 2016-2020 provides for the debtless financing of Belarus' balance of payments and the gradual repayment of external debts. “To achieve that, we will have to keep the deficit of the current account of the balance of payments under 3% of the GDP per annum,” explained the First Deputy Economy Minister. The official underlined that last year in complicated conditions Belarus managed to virtually reach the goal, saving about $3 billion. It was achieved thanks to national import substitution efforts and the reduction of non-production and excessive spending.
