Washington, 28 January 1997 (RFE/RL) -- Georgia has become the eighth former Soviet republic to agree to a key International Monetary Fund (IMF) article. It requires the country to refrain from imposing restrictions on currency exchange in international transactions or engaging in discriminatory currency arrangements.
The requirements of Article Eight of the fund's constitution must be individually accepted by each member nation as part of the overall aim of the fund to facilitate the expansion and balanced growth of international trade.
To date, 137 of the fund's 181 members have accepted Article Eight, including Estonia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova and Russia.
The fund says that by acceding to the article, a country gives confidence to the international community "that it will pursue sound economic policies...."