Washington, 10 October 1996 (RFE/RL) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the release of Russia's latest monthly drawing of about $350 million after completing its monthly review of Russia's economic stabilization and reform program.
A spokesman at the fund says the Board of Executive Directors reviewed the report of a team of IMF experts and officials who visited Moscow in late September, approved it and agreed to release funds late Tuesday.
Russian officials attending the annual meetings of the fund and World Bank last week in Washington said the country had been meeting -- and in some cases exceeding -- the targets established to support the three-year extended loan which will give Russia a total of about $10.1 billion.
The chairman of the Russian Central Bank, Sergei Dubinin, told a conference in New York yesterday that the government is still dealing with difficulties in tax collections, but that by the end of December the yearly target should be met.