President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko met with the chairman of the National Bank Petr Prokopovich with a planned report on January 11. During the report the head of the National Bank expressed confidence that the NBB had all possibilities to reach the planned indicator for gold and currency reserves in 2011, which should increase by at least $1.2 billion.
«This is connected with the fact that we’ll have a much better balance of foreign trade and a much greater inflow of currency from exports of goods and services,» Petr Prokopovich said.
The press service of the Head of State noted that the international reserve assets of Belarus, calculated by the IMF method, decreased by 11% to $503 billion in 2010, although $0.5-1.83 billion increase had been planned by the IMF standards.
Prokopovich Urges Belarusians to Keep Savings in Banks
According to the NBB chairman, the reason for failure of this indicator was feverish demand for the currency of the population, especially at the end of the year. «Now it’s gone. We sold $1.5 billion on a net basis last year. The money has gone from the gold and currency reserves and it’s actually kept by the population at home, instead of working for the republic, for the economy,» Petr Prokopovich said.
«I would like to advise citizens, keeping their money at home both in Belarusian rubles or in any other currency, to keep it in the banks. Firstly, they ensure the safety of savings, and secondly, make them interest-bearing. Then the money will be used for the economy to improve our lives,» the head of the National Bank said.
Banking System Gave Everything Needed to Real Sector in 2010, Prokopovich
The NBB Chairman also informed the President that all the indicators of monetary policy, in particular, the stability of the ruble, credit economy, interest rate policy and the functioning of the payment system, had been implemented in 2010.
«That is the economy of Belarus has received everything from the banking system, needed for real sector,» Peter Prokopovich summed up.
Referring to the very banking system, the head of the National Bank pointed out that the resource base increase, banks’ own capital, as well as all the standard indicators had been provided. «It builds confidence all of the planned indicators of the banking system will be implemented this year, too,» he said.
Lukashenko Demands from Prokopovich to Perform All Indicators in 2011
Alexander Lukashenko demanded from the National Bank to perform all the indicators of monetary policy in 2011. Special attention, according to the head of state, should be given to lending to the real sector of economy, implementation of parameters of the interest rate policy and, most importantly, to the provision of a stable and efficient operation of the banking system.
Petr Prokopovich assured the president that all the targets, set out in the main directions of the monetary policy in 2011 and approved by the relevant presidential decree, would be implemented in full.
