Belarus will Use Less Dollars

Belarus has worked out new measures to use less foreign currencies in internal payments, the Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of Belarus Pavel Kallaur said in an interview for the Respublika newspaper, BelTA informs. According to the Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of Belarus Pavel Kallaur, switching to settling in national currency is “an important factor in the stability of the financial system and the economy as a whole”. Strengthening of the Belarusian ruble proves efficiency of this approach. “Earlier, amid high inflation, dollar manipulation was somehow reasonable, now after the stabilization of the national currency all payments should be made in it as well as contract relations should be denominated in Belarusian rubles”, Kallaur said. The following amendments to the legislation have been introduced for dedollarisation: - Payment abolition of almost all types of taxes in foreign currency; - Limiting the ability to take money liabilities in foreign currency. Besides, the National Bank proposes to approve a short list of currency usage cases in internal payments, to refuse selective preferences in the field of currency legislation and to limit the bond emission denominated in foreign currency. At the same time, according to Kallaur, dedollarisation should be carried out in conjunction with the liberalization of currency legislation. As an example of already taken measures there are buying and selling of foreign currency without a passport, abolition of targeted purchasing of currencies and surrender of foreign exchange proceeds. “This complex and parallel implementation of measures in both directions should give a synergistic effect”, stressed the head of the National Bank. The trend towards dedollarisation of the economy has also begun in the Eurasian space. “The process of dollar repudiation, prepared by Europe and provoked by China and Russia, is gaining momentum. The desire of Turkey and Iran to trade  using national currency instead of the US dollar only strengthens this process”, said the director of the Institute for the Study of the Middle East and Caucasus, the Iranian Vasily Papava. Source: Eurasia. Expert