Main monetary management guidelines for 2022 approved

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko has signed decree No.482 on approving the main guidelines of Belarus’ monetary management policy for the year 2022.

According to the document, the next year’s monetary management policy will be geared towards keeping inflation at 6%.

Control over the growth of money supply will stay in place. The average broad money supply will rise by 7-13% year-on-year, with the ruble money base expected to expand by 8-13%.

The National Bank of the Republic of Belarus has been instructed to enable conditions for lending at a level that can maintain economic activity without increasing systemic risks. Bank lending to the economy is expected to rise by 7-11% in 2022.

The exchange rate policy will continue relying on a floating exchange rate, which is driven by supply and demand on the forex market. Forex interventions are allowed to prevent rapid changes of the Belarusian ruble’s exchange rate and to replenish the country’s gold and foreign exchange reserves.

Taking into account the forthcoming payments, Belarus’ gold and foreign exchange reserves are expected to be at least $7 billion at the end of 2022.