Compulsory foreign exchange sales to state to be introduced in Belarus

The National Bank got the right to set amount of mandatory foreign exchange sales for legal persons and entrepreneurs.

Alyaksandr Lukashenka signed a decree allowing the National Bank to set the amount of mandatory foreign exchange sales in the domestic market to be made by legal persons and individual entrepreneurs who are residents of Belarus,” the press service of the Belarusian ruler reports.

“With the view of ensuring a guaranteed amount of foreign currency supply and saving the nation’s gold and foreign currency reserves, this document entitles the National Bank to set the amount of mandatory foreign exchange sales in the domestic market (in per cent against the amount of foreign exchange revenues) to be made by businesses and individual entrepreneurs who are residents of the Republic of Belarus,” the press service reports.

Leanid Zaika, head of “Strategy” analytical center, told in an interview to the Charter’97 press center the National Bank can now control foreign exchange flows tighter.

“The National Bank will obviously control foreign exchange flows tighter. Legal persons and individual entrepreneurs will have to give a part of their currency gain to the state at a fixed exchange rate. Foreign trade negative balance is growing, so the National Bank decided to “filter” the flows. This means that a gap between official and unofficial exchange rates may be expected in future,” the expert says.