Belarusians converting foreign currency deposits into ruble deposits

There is a clear trend towards the transfer of money from foreign currency deposits into ruble deposits by individuals in Belarus, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko told reporters following the extended meeting of Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko with the Council of Ministers on 22 June, BelTA has learned.

Describing the situation in the economy, the head of government noted that along with macroeconomic indicators there are also indicators that show people's perception of the economic situation in the country. These are, for example, exchange rates, interest rates on deposits and loans, wages and household incomes, pension benefits. Pension benefits have bounced back after last year's slight drop due to high inflation. “Everything is back on the growth track: the average salary has grown by 3.5%, real household income has risen by 1% and keeps rising. Inflation is kept at a low level,” said Roman Golovchenko.

It is noteworthy that people are converting foreign currency deposits into ruble deposits. “We see a clear trend: in the course of five months ruble deposits of individuals grew by almost Br1.5 billion. At the same time, foreign currency deposits contracted. The same pertains to deposits of legal entities,” the prime minister stressed.

“This is a very good trend that suggests two important things: confidence in the Belarusian currency and confidence in the processes going on in the domestic economy,” he added.

According to the head of government, opinion polls and surveys of focus groups reveal that businesses and households are optimistic about Belarus' economic prospects.