National Bank of Belarus hasn’t stuck to its word to IMF

• 12.03.2010, 14:04

The National Bank of Belarus increased the number of sponsored agricultural enterprises from 11 to 14, thus violating the promise to the International Monetary Fund.

As infromed by AFN, the National Bank has taken under its wing joint stock companies Parakhonskaye, Pachapava (Pinsk district) and Ruuzhany-Agra (Pruzhany district).

A decree of the Council of Ministers number 325 passed on March 6, 2010 contradicts the commitments of the Belarusian authorities to the IMF in the framework of stand-by program.

In particular, Belarus made commitments that in 2010 the National Bank is not only to stop issuing new loans and stop participation in capital of new assets that don’t belong to the main business, most of which belong to agricultural enterprises, but also to put on sale about a half of sponsored enterprises.

The practice of helping agricultural enterprises by affiliating them to this or that body of state administration was approved in early 2004 by a decree of the Council of Ministers number 213, and means providing monetary aid to sponsored businesses.

It should be noted that in the end of March the board of directors of the IMF is to pass a decision about allocating the last tranche of the loan of the stand-by program. However, the National Bank hasn’t commented how the increased farmland area of the banking regulator could influence the decision of the IMF board of directors.