OREANDA-NEWS. February 17, 2010. The International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s preliminary estimate of Belarus’ losses caused by external shocks stands at USD 2 billion, head of the IMF mission to Belarus Chris Jarvis said during a conference in Minsk.

“We are still working on estimates of the impact the crisis and foreign hocks produced on Belarus. According to preliminary estimates of the IMF and the National Bank of Belarus, losses amount to USD 2 billion, Jarvis said.

“Is the economic capable of tackling these consequences independently? It is, but on condition that Belarus takes certain measures. It is a serious shock, but it is manageable,” Jarvis said.

The IMF mission plans to meet with the Belarusian government this week to discuss these issues, he said.

An IMF mission is working in Belarus February 3-16 to conduct the fourth review of Belarus’ performance under a program supported by a Stand-By Arrangement.

Belarus on December 22, 2009, received the fourth tranche of the IMF loan, amounting to USD 688 million.

The Executive Board of the IMF On December 18 completed the third review of Belarus’ performance under an economic program supported under a Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). The 15-month, SDR 1.62 billion (about USD 2.46 billion) SBA was approved on January 12, 2009 and on June 29, 2009 the size of financial package provided under the SBA was increased to an amount equivalent to SDR 2.27 billion (about USD 3.63 billion).