MINSK, January 31 (RIA Novosti) - Belarus has received the fourth tranche of a bailout loan from the EurAsEC Anti-Crisis Fund, the Belarusian Finance Ministry said on Thursday.
“The fourth tranche of the EurAsEC Anti-Crisis Fund worth $440 million has been granted to Belarus,” a Finance Ministry spokesman said, adding the loan had been credited to the Finance Ministry’s account with the National Bank.
The funds will replenish Belarus’ gold and foreign exchange reserves, which totaled almost $8.1 billion at the start of the year.
A $3 billion loan agreement between Belarus and the Eurasian Bank for Development, which manages the EurAsEC Anti-Crisis Fund resources, was signed in June 2011. Under the agreement, the loan will be disbursed in six tranches.
Belarus received the first tranche of $800 million in June 2011 and anther two tranches of $440 million each in December 2011 and June 2012.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in December the fifth tranche would be tied to the implementation of a state privatization program in the post-Soviet republic.
EurAsEC’s program for Belarus is designed to rectify the country's serious economic imbalances, low gold and foreign exchange reserves and high inflation.
