Belarus’ main monetary management guidelines for 2023 approved

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko signed decree No.412 on 28 November to approve the main monetary management guidelines for the year 2023.

Monetary management will be directed towards slowing down inflation to 7-8% per annum and maintaining financial stability.

Control over money supply growth will remain in place. The average broad money supply is expected to expand by 12-16% year-on-year, with the ruble money base expected to grow by 10-12%.

Appropriate resources will be formed to satisfy the solvent demand for loans to finance investment projects. The volume of outstanding amounts on bank loans is expected to rise by 17-21%.

There are plans to keep interest rates in the economy at a positive level in real terms in order to keep deposits attractive and use it as a source to give loans to the economy. The refinancing rate is expected at 10-11% per annum.

The exchange rate policy will rely on a floating exchange rate based on demand and supply on the currency market. It will allow interventions to offset drastic fluctuations of the Belarusian ruble’s exchange rate.