Belarus could lower refi rate to 10% - banker
MINSK. June 28 (Interfax) - The refinancing rate in Belarus could fall to 10% before the year is out as inflation slows, Nadezhda Yermakova, chief executive of Belarusbank, the country's largest commercial bank, told Interfax.
"The refinancing rate could be lowered to 10% by the end of the year," Yermakova said.
She said she knew nothing about plans to lower the rate this side of July 1.
The National Bank of Belarus (NBB) has lowered the refi rate three times by half a percentage point this year, most recently to 12% p.a. on May 12.
NBB chairman Pavel Kallaur said at the beginning of June that he did not rule another cut in the rate by July 1.
Belarus plans, according to its 2010 monetary policy, to lower the refi rate to 9%-12% this year. This could bring rates on new loans in Belarusian rubles down to 12%-15% and the average rate on new ruble deposits to 10%-13%.