DUSHANBE, January 27, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- Chairman of the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) Sharif Rahimzoda told a press conference in Dushanbe on January 27 that Tajikistan will completely erase its debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in early February.

We will recall that on March 5, 2008, the IMF''s executive board reprimanded Tajikistan for violating the terms of its poverty reduction agreement with the body.  In a statement released in Washington and posted on its website, the IMF accused Tajikistan of engaging in several questionable "disbursements of funds" in 2004-2005 and "breaching its obligations."  The IMF demanded that Tajikistan pay back $47.4 million in aid by early 2009; that aid was reportedly "based on inaccurate financial information provided by Tajik authorities."

Speaking to reporters, the central bank head also noted that the NBT had appealed to IMF, asking to provide a loan of $150 million for implementation of the national economic growth support program.

“Terms of this program will be discussed during the nearest visit of the IMF mission to Tajikistan and we hope we will have received the loan by the end of March,” Rahimzoda said.