Opinions & Interviews

According to the statement, the mission has evaluated the progress Belarus has achieved in ensuring compliance with international standards of oversight over the banking industry, insurance business, and financial market infrastructure. Belarus has achieved considerable accomplishments in introducing integrated banking oversight and ensuring the stable operation of the payment system, the statement reads. Results of the evaluation will be used as initial information for the sake of making the transition to an independent, comprehensive, and risk-oriented oversight over the financial sector.

The IMF-WB mission called upon Belarusian government agencies to bolster the oversight potential of risk assessment and expand financial security systems.

The IMF and World Bank experts worked together with government agencies to evaluate the stability of the financial system within the framework of the financial sector assessment program. The sides also discussed measures meant to improve the system’s stability. The experts are convinced that the Belarusian financial sector is dominated by state institutions and has to deal with internal structural problems, dollarization, and external negative factors. Dealing with troubled assets together with the restructuring of enterprises is crucial to the continued financial stability.

Apart from that, the mission evaluated the development of corporate management in state financial organizations, financial reporting standards and auditing practices, measures designed to protect rights of creditors, the legal basis for dealing with insolvencies, and the working out of the central bank’s strategy for digital banking development.

The IMF-WB mission calls upon government agencies to further increase the potential of supervisory boards of state-run banks, to pay increased attention to international financial reporting standards as part of oversight processes. The mission also recommended improving the legal foundation for out-of-court resolution of problems of enterprises that experience financial difficulties by means of voluntary settlements with creditors. The mission also recommended expanding the scope of the digital banking development strategy by including the management of security risks as an inalienable part of the strategy’s implementation.

Led by Sonia Munoz (IMF) and Aquiles Almansi (World Bank), the joint mission of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank stayed in Minsk on 5-21 April for the sake of carrying out evaluation within the framework of the financial sector assessment program. The experts met with Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (NBRB) Pavel Kallaur, Finance Minister Vladimir Amarin, Economy Minister Vladimir Zinovsky as well as other officials. “The mission would like to thank all the government agencies and participants of the meetings for hospitality and sincere discussions,” the statement reads.

The IMF and the World Bank have carried out the financial sector assessment program since 1999. Belarus had its financial sector assessed in 2004 and 2008.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization headquartered in Washington, USA. It was founded in 1945. Belarus has been an IMF member since 1992.

Belarus became a World Bank member in 1992. Since then the country has borrowed $1.88 billion. Apart from that, a number of programs have received support via grants. The current investment portfolio includes nine projects for a total sum of $998 million.