MINSK, 22 October (BelTA) - Cooperation with the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development (EFSD) does not imply the transition to a single currency in the Union State of Belarus and Russia, BelTA learned from the press service of the Finance Ministry.
"The Finance Ministry is in charge of raising loans in foreign markets. In the wake of the Western sanctions, we have faced with difficulties in refinancing our foreign currency public debt. Work with some international financial institutions has been paused. In this regard, cooperation with the EFSD, our long-standing partner, is justified and beneficial from a financial point of view. By the way, work is currently in progress on the fourth program with the fund," the press service said.
At the same time, some experts have alleged that one of the terms of the program with the EFSD is the pegging of the national currency to the Russian ruble or switching to a single currency within the Union State. “Regarding these allegations, we would like to note that the basic conditions for advancing integration with the Russian Federation were agreed at the meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Union State on 10 September of this year. Twenty-eight Union State programs were approved. National experts are still fine-tuning them. The Supreme State Council of the Union State is expected to endorse the programs at a meeting in November of this year. After that, the programs will be made public. They do not contain any conditions for the transition to a single currency in the Union State. The National Bank of Belarus does not consider this transition possible either," the Finance Ministry explained.
According to the ministry, the Government and the National Bank of Belarus are currently working on the matrix of economic policy measures and structural transformations with the EFSD and on the fund's loan program and have never discussed the transition to a single currency. “The measures outlined in the matrix are aimed at stabilizing economic policy, including the monetary and fiscal policies, strengthening the social protection of citizens and carrying out structural reforms in the public sector. Thus, transition to a single currency has not been the subject of discussion of the draft Matrix of measures with the EFSD," the ministry stressed.
