Dictator won’t get IMF money
- 2.09.2010, 15:49
The International Monetary Fund is not going to discuss a new stand-by programme with Belarusian authorities.
A permanent representative of the IMF in Belarus Natalya Kolyadina states that the IMF is not planning to send a mission for negotiations on feasibility of implementing a new stand-by programme.
“No one has abandoned anything, but there is no such mission planned so far,” Kolyadina said to Interfax-Zapad agency, answering the question about concrete terms of the talks on possibility to implement the new programme announced in May this year. Earlier these talks were planned to be held in early autumn this year.
As said by her, the nearest IMF mission is to arrive to Minsk in November and its agenda will be an annual report of the economy traditional for all IMF country members. “We expect that the 4th chapter mission that is the traditional annual consultations on the situation in the macroeconomics, will be in November. And before that there are no missions planned till November,” the IMF representative said.
Natalya Kolyadina has also stated that objective economic premises for considerable hike of average wage planned by the authorities are absent in Belarus.
“We have not changed our attitude to the considerable increase of wages in Belarus. In such a situation I see no economic grounds for its increase,” the IMF representative said.
She explained: “First of all, increase of wages will decrease competitive power of Belarusian manufacturers at foreign markets. Productivity gain is already behind the pace of wages increase”.
Kolyadina has also stated that the recent months are characterized by considerable deterioration of the trade balance, which is the outcome of insufficient competitive power of Belarusian manufacturers at foreign markets.
Besides, “increase of wages will bring about increase of internal demand, which puts additional pressure on consumer prices and currency market; wages hike will also increase demand for mainline import, which would promote growth of trade balance deficit,” the IMF representative underlined.
She attracted attention to the fact that considerable increase of wages in the state-financed sector means increase in budget expenses on an ongoing basis, that is, the expenses are to be born by the budget not only this year, but next year and so on. “Undoubtedly, that would obstruct the work of the government on alleviation of tax burden on enterprises, which would also negatively influence their external competitiveness,” Kolyadina believes.