OREANDA-NEWS. November 24, 2009. President Alexander Lukashenko met with Pyotr Prokopovich, Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of Belarus, to receive his routine report during which Mr Prokopovich informed the Head of State that all the January-October 2009 targets of the Basic Guidelines of Belarus’ Monetary and Credit Policy had been met, reported the Official website president.gov.by.

The exchange rate of the national currency remained stable; the trading band for the Belarusian rouble against the currency basket was ±10 per cent, i.e. within the announced band.

In January-October, the National Bank increased its gold and foreign currency reserves more than 1.4. times, from US3.1 billion as of 1 January to US 4.43 billion as of 1 November. The National Bank will continue to build up its gold and foreign currency reserves which are expected to amount to no less than US 5 billion as of 1 January 2010. It will be a good foundation for securing further stability of the national currency.

Mr Prokopovich informed the President on the completion of another IMF mission in Belarus as part of the "stand-by" programme. As of 1 October 2009 the National Bank met all the targets under this programme. The mission’s performance will be soon assessed in the course of a IMF Council meeting. "We are convinced that another tranche of the IMF credit will be wired in December," said Pyotr Prokopovich. It will improve the situation in the country, including the situation with national gold and foreign currency reserves.

This year the national banking system will meet the planned level of lending and crediting for the national economy. The level of lending has risen more than 1.4 times since 1 November 2009, the amount of house loans issued on privileged terms has gone up 1.7 times.

The National Bank has been working hard on polishing up its interest rate policy. "We have reached an agreement with the IMF allowing us to start reducing interest rates. As soon as 1 December 2009 we are planning to decrease the refinancing rate by 0.5 per cent points from today’s 14 per cent per annum to 13.5 per cent per annum," said the head of the National Bank. According to him, in the first half of 2010 interest rates are expected to reach their pre-crisis level.