Runaway To Currency Exchange Offices: Belarusians To Run Out Of Money Before Crisis Ends

The Belarusians’ incomes continue to decline.

The day before, the National Bank has published some curious statistical data for July – it turned out that the population has sold cash and non-cash foreign currency for $ 624 million, and bought – for $ 389 million. Thus, the pure currency sale has made $ 235 million! All this is despite the vacation season, in which Belarusians usually buy more currency, getting ready to go to rest somewhere.

– On the whole, these are record-breaking figures for Belarus, – Chief Analyst of the “Alpari” company Vadzim Iasub has commented upon the situation to Solidarity. – Despite the tendency when selling of currency by the population prevails over purchasing has existed since February, there have been no such great numbers, I guess. I think this is connected with the fact that the people’s incomes in real terms are decreasing.

In Vadzim Iasub’s opinion, the statistics for the deposits in July may spring an unpleasant surprise on the authorities.

– Most likely, it will also show the record-breaking shortening of the savings in foreign currency, – the expert has clarified. – The people simply released the deposits which were about to expire and changed them for rubles, to keep up their usual life level and not to shorten the expenses.

Vadzim Iasub thinks that such upheaval is not connected with the population being over-optimistic, but rather vice-versa:

– First, nothing hints on the crisis to end soon. Secondly, the people’s expectations remain more pessimistic than the real situation in the economy. So, no mass optimism has been recorded among the people – and such tendency exists exactly because the people’s expenses do not decline as fast as their incomes. As a result, the people start using their savings in order to keep the former level of consumption somehow.

According to the financial analyst, the people’s thriftbox has not been that damaged so far – the amount of the deposits still makes $ 7,5 billion. Thus, if Belarusians continue handing in about $ 1 billion every half a year, this money will be enough to cover a “rather long period of time, one or two years, or even more”.

– Another thing is the sum is not equally suballocated, so some citizens may eat up their savings much earlier, – Vadzim Iasub has warned.

We remind, the volume of pure selling of foreign currency has made over $ 886 million in the equivalent, since the beginning of the year.