MINSK - Chief of the Belarusian National Bank Nadezhda Yermakova does not see reasons for the deterioration of the situation in Belarusian banking in relation to the sanctions imposed by the EU and the United States on several Russian banks.
“If financing in U.S. dollars and Euros declines, it will remain in Russian rubles. It is not critical for us in Belarus because settlements between the Belarusian and Russian sides are made in dollars and in euros and in Russian rubles depending on the contract,” she said during a hotline on Wednesday.
“It is not a problem for us, if the volume of resources in the banking system shrinks,” she said.
However, she did not rule out that there will be a change of orientation from one currency to another. “But that does not create any difficulties. Banks have conducted stress tests. We checked these questions with each bank separately. We don’t see any problems,” he said.
Speaking of the impact of the anti-Russian sanctions on the Belarusian economy as a whole she said: “There are difficulties but they can be resolved.”
“Some of the payments are frozen but we also have possibilities to transfer contracts to other banks, if payments get stuck in Russian banks. This is a matter which customers should be working out with banks,” Yermakova said.
She noted that many big state-owned banks in Belarus have broad networks of correspondent accounts abroad which permits them to conduct all payments.
“There are no problems for customers in this respect,” she said.
