Former presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya sent letters to the Managing Director of the IMF and the U.S. Treasury Secretary calling to freeze $1 billion allocated from the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) in favor of Belarus in 2021
“On behalf of the people of Belarus, who seek democratic change in our country, and representing their interests in the absence of a legitimate president in Belarus, I call on you to take a principled decision and deprive the current Belarusian authorities of access to the allocated SDRs, including by blocking their exchange into freely usable currencies”, – Tikhanovskaya to Georgieva said in a letter posted on Twitter.
According to the former presidential candidate, the IMF funds will be used by the government of Belarus to “continue the repression of civil society.
Tikhanovskaya calls for the SDR to be frozen until “free and fair” presidential elections are held under international supervision.
In August, the IMF approved $650 billion for global economic recovery after the coronavirus pandemic: special drawing rights will be available to all fund members in proportion to their quotas. The Belarusian opposition has launched a campaign to deny the Belarusian authorities access to a billion dollars from the IMF, which they can claim.