The authorities of Belarus deliberately do not impose severe restrictions due to the coronavirus, so as not to “freeze” the economy, but could instead borrow from the International Monetary Fund.
This was reported by representatives of the pro-Western non-governmental organization “Polish Institute of International Relations.” In NGOs, a whole report devoted to “Economic Challenges for Belarus” was dedicated to the prospects of cooperation between Minsk and the IMF.
The authors argue that the consequences of the current economic crisis will be devastating for Belarus. So, if last year the GDP indicator grew by only 1.2%, then according to the results of 2020, it can generally become negative. This is also due to the fact that in a pandemic, the republic lost the Russian and European markets.
NGO experts turned from economic aspects to political ones. They indicate that Russia will allegedly use the situation to force Belarus to integrate. In this regard, they also turned to the EU and US countries, urging them to prepare for the “serious social, humanitarian and political crisis” in Belarus.
Polish experts propose solving the “problems” of Belarus as follows. Minsk needs to switch to a new oil supplier, despite the fact that the price of Russian raw materials is the most favorable for Belarus. At the same time, it is proposed to supply such oil through Poland, for which Warsaw will receive its share. In addition, Minsk is invited to borrow from the IMF, which will provide Belarus with “financial liquidity”.
Recall that today the active “partner” of the International Monetary Fund is Ukraine. Only in order to be able to borrow from the IMF, the country’s authorities have already agreed to sell Ukrainian lands. At the same time, the external debt of Ukraine as of the end of February amounted to 1.223 trillion hryvnias or 44 billion dollars.