Georgia receives third tranche of IMF stand-by loan worth $148.5 mln
TBILISI. Sept 30 (Interfax) - Georgia has received the third tranche worth 94.6 SDR ($148.5 million) of a stand-by loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the country's Finance Ministry told Interfax.
A reprehensive of the ministry said that 63 million SDR of this amount ($98.9 million) would be used to support the budget. The remainder will go to replenish the National Bank of Georgia's forex reserves.
It was earlier reported that on August 6, the IMF's board of directors decided to expand its stand-by program for Georgia, which has been in place since September 2008. The program was increased by $423 million (270 million SDR) to $1.17 billion while its term was extended by 15 months to June 2011. The additional funds were initially earmarked for supplying the country's budget and balance of payments.
The first two tranches of this loan, which Georgia received in October 2008 (161.7 million SDR) and in March 2009 (126.2 million SDR), were entirely used to replenish the National Bank of Georgia's forex reserves. The loan's rate comes to 5% and is set for payment in three and half to five years.
As of September 1, 2009, Georgia's debt to the IMF stood at $642.3 million, or 20.9% of total foreign state debt.