Meeting with IMF Mission Chief for Belarus Peter Dohlman

  • 1
On 17 November Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko mat with IMF Mission Chief for Belarus Peter Dohlman to discuss the prospects of cooperation between Belarus and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the main aspects of the future program.

The head of state said that the provisions do not provoke any rejection. In his words, the proposals of the fund rely on the absolutely objective laws of the economy and life. “There is a formula: one should pay for services such as electricity, heat, transport, etc. in full,” the head of state said.

The head of state noted with satisfaction that Belarus and the IMF strictly fulfill the agreement to elaborate the program which should serve as a foundation of cooperation. Aleksandr Lukashenko said that the terms are the main issue. “I do not think there will be strong misunderstanding regarding these terms and the terms in general. We also want to fulfill the proposals we have worked out together as soon as possible,” the President said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that “we are not going to break down the social state scheme we have put together” whether the IMF likes it or not. “The thing is that we cannot leave a single child, a single elderly person, a single person with disabilities without assistance of our society, the state,” explained the President. “It is what the social state is all about. We cannot just push them aside.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that all the other IMF proposals can absolutely be implemented in Belarus.

In turn, Peter Dohlman thanked the Belarus President for the openness demonstrated during the meeting. According to the IMF mission head, it is a token of very open and productive interaction that is already developing between the IMF and Belarus.