Later this month Belarusian authorities plan to negotiate with the IMF a new $3,8 bln loan to refinance its existing debt to the organization. With generous subsidies from Russia, the government managed to stabilize the situation in the Belarusian economy after the 2010 crisis, but this had harsh consequences for public welfare.
Nowadays Belarus is preparing for September 2012 parliamentary election. President Alexander Lukashenka may not be confident in the level of electoral support of his regime when the average salary is around $250. Therefore he promises Belarusians to raise the salary to the pre-crisis level by the end of 2012. The IMF loan is needed as a ‘security cushion’ to implement this task. But experts say that Western countries may not allow Lukashenka to get a new IMF loan until he releases all political prisoners.
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