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National Bank plans no restrictions on foreign cash purchases by individuals

The National Bank of Belarus (NBB) has no plans to impose restrictions on purchases of foreign currencies by individuals, NBB head Pyotr Prakapovich said at a news conference held in Minsk on Friday.

“The situation is that the population, in fact, has even an excessive amount of foreign cash,” Mr. Prakapovich said. “For instance, individuals sold each other some $6.5 billion [in foreign cash] and bought some $1.5 billion more from the National Bank’s reserves last year. This is the amount that the population has available today. But unfortunately, only part of this huge sum is in banks and works for the benefit of the country’s economy.”

Mr. Prakapovich urged the public to contribute to the government’s effort to improve living standards in the country. “It would be nice if all people participated in the program instead of just buying foreign currencies to put them aside under a pillow, with the government struggling to secure a surplus in foreign trade and borrow foreign cash in foreign markets.”

“Now that it is possible to buy everything in the country in Belarusian rubels why do you need to go and create problems for the entire country only because you don’t trust the National Bank and the stability of the national currency?” Mr. Prakapovich wondered. //BelaPAN