The National Bank of Belarus has not solved the problem of the foregn currency lack at exchange offices yet.
On December, 19 Taras Nadolny, First Deputy Head of the National Bank, said they had already ‘ordered money at foreign banks’ and that ‘planes with currency on board’ were around the corner.
But the situation is still tense: there are no dollars and euros in exchange offices. If anyone sells currency to a bank, it is bought right off the bat.
Belarus Prime Minister Mikhail Miasnikovich has recently said that there is not enough foreign currency for all who want to buy it.
“Today our people are facing a dilemma: buy dollars paying 30% levy or not to buy them at all. We don’t have so many dollars to fully meet our people’s demand for currency,” he said.
“As far as the foreign currency market is concerned, people have already understood that it is unacceptable to pay an exorbitant price for U.S. dollars and euros. All in all, it is much better to buy commodities than U.S. dollars. It is unclear what will happen with U.S. dollars tomorrow,” Belarus president Aliaksandr Lukashenka said on Monday.
A temporary 30% fee on purchasing foreign currency has been enforced in Belarus on December 19, which is commonly regarded as a disguised devaluation.
