OREANDA-NEWS. On 20 May 2009 was announced, that an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Mr. Chris Jarvis has visited Minsk to conduct discussions on the first review of Belarus’s Stand-By Arrangement. It finished its discussions today and is returning to Washington to consult further. At the conclusion of the visit, Mr. Jarvis issued the following statement:

“We have made good progress in discussions over the last two weeks. Belarus has been severely affected by the global economic crisis, whose effects have deepened since the program was agreed in January.

“The main focus of our discussions has been on how to respond to the problems that the worsened global outlook has caused for Belarus. We look forward to continuing discussions on the first review of Belarus’s Stand-By Arrangement at an early date.”

The 15-month, SDR 1.62 billion (about USD 2.46 billion) arrangement was approved by the IMF Executive Board on January 12, 2009 (see Press Release 09/05).