Belarus joins IMF's Central & Eastern European country group
MINSK. July 12. (Interfax) - Belarus has joined a new group of International Monetary Fund (IMF) countries - the Central and Eastern European group, which was established on July 11 in Vienna with the participation of Austrian President Heinz Fischer.
According to the Belarusian Embassy in Austria, the agreement was signed on Wednesday with the participation of National Bank of Belarus chief Nadezhda Yermakova and Belarusian First Deputy Finance Minister Vladimir Amarin.
The Central and Eastern European group was created by means of reorganizing the Belgian group, which included Belarus, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey and the Czech Republic. The Belgian group's representative on the IMF's executive board was Willy Kiekens.
The Central and Eastern European group includes Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Kosovo and Belarus. The group's primary composition remained the same, but Belgium and Luxembourg were left out, and Kosovo joined.
The Austrian Finance Ministry and Central Bank are nominating Josef Prader as the executive director from the Central and Eastern European group. "Josef Prader is well acquainted with Belarus. He has worked with the country in various formats and has positive relations with us," a source in government circles told Interfax.