Yermakova warns on new inflation surge

The National Bank of Belarus apprehends inflation rate growth.

It may happen due to an increase in wage rates scheduled for August 1 and October, National Bank chief Nadzezhda Yermakova says.

“Of course, we have apprehensions. The increased volume of currency in circulation can create conditions for inflation and additional demand for foreign currency if we have no goods and services,  above all domestic production, to invest money in,” Yermakova says.

According to her, “the main task of manufacturers, managers and the National Bank is to find ways to pull this money out by all means.” “To achieve this, we need to have high household deposit interests. In this case, the discount rate cannot be decreased. The discount rate is like an indicator of cost of money in both deposits and loans,” the National Bank chief noted.

The main thing, Yermakova suposes, is that money should be invested in domestically produced goods and services, BelaPAN informs.

“National Bank's method of curbing the inflation is high interest rates to prevent development of additional crediting,” Yermakova said.