A 36% devaluation of the local ruble was not enough to restore oxygen to the economy. The Minsk regime is experiencing a serious payments crisis: the reserves of the Central Bank are dry and foreign currency is no longer available in the official credit circuits. The prices of many foods have been frozen by the government until July XNUMX, in an attempt to stave off a surge in inflation.
President Aleksandr Lukashenko, considered by many to be Europe's last dictator, has asked his Russian ally for help with a $3 billion credit line. But so far Moscow is niche and has only promised that a multilateral assistance plan by some other former Soviet republics will be discussed on June 4th. Belarus therefore sees itself forced to request the intervention of the International Monetary Fund, a body created after the war for the financial crises of emerging countries but now at home in Europe, from Iceland to Greece.
Lukashenko is not new to sudden changes of strategy towards Russia and the West. It remains to be seen whether the entry of the IMF will help Lukashenko to get a more generous loan from the Russian government. Meanwhile, IMF emissaries will remain in Minsk until June 13 to assess the situation. On the streets of the capital there are queues in shops for basic necessities. The leaders of the democratic opposition are in prison, but the crisis could push the Arab wind of liberation as far as the steppe.
