MINSK, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Belarus' central bank has decided to cut the refinancing rate by 50 basis points to 13.5 percent effective from Dec. 1, the president's press service said in a statement on Thursday, citing the head of the central bank.

'An agreement has been reached with the IMF that we can start the process of cutting interest rates. We plan that already from Dec. 1, 2009, the refinancing rate will be reduced by 50 basis points,' Pyotr Prokopovich was quoted as saying.

A central bank official told Reuters on Wednesday that Belarus would consider cutting the refinancing rate at the end of this month.

(Reporting by Andrei Makhovsky; Writing by Toni Vorobyova) Keywords: BELARUS RATES/

(antonina.vorobyova@reuters.com; Tel: +7495 7751242, Reuters Messaging: antonina.vorobyova.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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