Aleksandr Lukashenko meets with NBRB head Nadezhda Yermakova
The foreign exchange market strategy that has been promised to the nation should not be abandoned, President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with Chairperson of the Board of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (NBRB) Nadezhda Yermakova on 24 September.
The head of state once again reminded about his instruction to base the national currency exchange rate purely on demand and supply. “We should follow the way we promised to follow to avoid blame from anyone. There were a lot of talks on the eve of the elections. There are many now,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “You understand that our ‘fifth column’ continues winding up pressure primarily via mass media. Nothing must happen. At least we should follow the way we’ve promised to the nation”.
The President was informed about the state of affairs in the banking industry, the foreign exchange market, and the financial market. The NBRB head said that the demand of individuals for foreign currency slightly increased in September. “There is enough foreign currency to satisfy the existing demand. We spent the first half of the year buying foreign currency at the currency exchange and from the population,” Nadezhda Yermakova said.
She confirmed that on the eve of the parliamentary elections people sometimes had various negative expectations regarding the situation on the currency market. “The elections are over and we do not see any serious changes. So, the situation around ‘devaluation’ and ‘inflation’ expectations of the population is getting stabilized,” Nadezhda Yermakova said.
“As for sales of foreign currency via the currency exchange, we see no fears. Our gold and foreign exchange reserves are balanced and at the end of the year we will reach two months’ worth of import,” Nadezhda Yermakova said.
The President was also informed about the participation of commercial banks in lending to the economy. Interest rates for the loans taken out by enterprises to finance investment projects as part of government programs are subsidized by the government. “Everything is balanced in the economy in this regard,” the NBRB head assured.
In September inflation was within the forecast range. At the end of the year inflation is expected under the forecast target of 22%. The refinancing rate may drop to 25-26%.
At the end of the meeting Aleksandr Lukashenko instructed the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus to continue keeping the stable operation of the national banking industry and the stable operation of the currency and the financial market.