MINSK: Cash-strapped Belarus will seek a $3.5-$8 billion rescue package from the International Monetary Fund to help resolve its economic crisis, the ex-Soviet republic's prime minister said Wednesday.
"We expect the level of help to be $3.5 to $8 billion," the state-run Belta news agency quoted Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich as saying.
Myasnikovich said he held his first two-hour meeting with the visiting IMF team on Tuesday.
"We decided to combine this mission's assignment with that of examining approaches to creating another cooperation programme with the fund," Myasnikovich said.
Belarus has been hit by a dire cash shortage that was sparked by a jump in the price Russia charges for energy as well as massive state spending ahead of presidential elections last year.
President Alexander Lukashenko's isolated government was forced to devalue the currency by more than a third of its value last month and has been unable to receive direct assistance from traditional sponsor Russia.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.