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Officials of Belarus, Russia begin loan consultations

Consultations involving representatives of the finance ministries and national banks of Belarus and Russia began Thursday to discuss Belarus' loan requests.

A decision to hold such consultations was made during a round of talks in Moscow three days ago. The talks focused on "loan and financial cooperation" between the two countries, with participants agreeing on medium-term measures for reforming the Belarusian economy.

Belarus desperately needs foreign currency to reduce its current account deficit and shore up its international reserves.

To restore financial stability, the Belarusian government has requested a $1-billion stabilization loan from the Russian government and a loan of up to $2 billion out of the Eurasian Economic Community's anti-crisis fund, which is dominated by Russia.

It was reported on April 4 that the Belarusian government had submitted a draft anti-crisis program to Russia to obtain the stabilization loan.

Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said on April 11 that Russia's finance ministry was studying the program.

"We are at the initial stage of [loan] negotiations," Mr. Storchak said. "Neither the Belarusian side, nor we try to speed them up. The Belarusian side should draw up a macroeconomic program capable of helping it address the current financial problems that really exist."

"We expect that we will see such a program to be confident that the money to be given to plug the financial gap will be used for the good of our partner's economy," Mr. Storchak noted. //BelaPAN