Belarusian National Bank to set temporary upper margins for interest rates on deposits

The National Bank has advised banks about the interest rate policy on deposits. This measure has been introduced in order to create uniformity in the banking market and reduce competition for depositors’ funds. This will lead to the unification of interest rates on revocable and irrevocable deposits, reduced yield from deposits and volume of citizens’ savings in the banking system, and to the outflow of foreign nationals’ deposits. Maturity period for national currency deposits will be reduced, while in order to attract foreign currency funds, banks may offer greater variety of currency bonds. If there is a massive outflow of national currency deposits in December, the National Bank may review its interest rate policy and revise interest rates upwards.