Belarus will get a loan of $3-3.5 billion from the Eurasian Economic Community anti-crisis fund on terms favorable for the ex-Soviet republic, Belarusian Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich said on Thursday.
"The amount of the loan will be $3 billion or maybe even $3.5 billion," Myasnikovich said, adding that the loan would be provided at a below market rate.
"The terms have been agreed and the amounts verified," he said.
Belarus has earlier applied for a $1 billion loan from Russia and a $2 billion loan from the Eurasian Economic Community, which comprises Customs Union members Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, to stabilize the currency market.
In the first quarter of this year, Belarus's gold and currency reserves shrank by 25% on rumors of a possible devaluation of the Belarusian ruble, which caused acute demand for foreign currency.
Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said earlier that Russia would not provide the loan from its own coffers, adding that it would be up to the EurAsEC anti-crisis fund.
MINSK, May 19 (RIA Novosti)
