OREANDA-NEWS. On February 25, 2008 the President of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, met with Pyotr Prokopovich, the Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of Belarus, to receive his report, reported the Official website http://president.gov.by.

The banking and financial systems of Belarus are stable; the exchange rate of the national currency is rising; all the targets laid down in the basic guidelines of the monetary and credit policy of the Republic of Belarus for 2008 are being met, said Pyotr Prokopovich.

The exchange rate of the Belarusian rouble has increased by Br 3 against the US dollar since the beginning of the year, he said. This positive trend has been in place for the last three years due to a good performance of the Belarusian economy: the foreign currency proceeds of Belarusian companies in January 2008 upped 1,6 times, or more than $ 900 million, from the same period last year.

The stability of the Belarusian rouble has been secured by the national gold and foreign currency reserves which are now approaching a total of $ 5200 million, while they stood at $ 4993 million at the beginning of the current year.

The need of the Belarusian economy in loans has been met in full; the performance of the national payment system has been strong; the resource base of the domestic banks has been growing. The National Bank is pursuing its interest rate policy in conformity with the Basic Guidelines of the Monetary and Credit Policy of Belarus for 2008.

This year several new foreign investors are expected to come to the Belarusian banking system, the National Bank chief said. Negotiations are underway with banks from Germany, Poland, Italy, France and other countries.

Pyotr Prokopovich reported on the fulfillment of some presidential instructions related to the performance of agricultural companies supervised by the National Bank. Last year, these companies’ revenues generated on selling their goods and services grew 1,5 times from 2006, and more than 2,4 times from 2005. Their profits have gone up more than 4,5 times over the past two years. The President said he wanted more efficiency in land management and energy saving so that these companies could be ranked among the most advanced in Belarus.

The meeting also touched upon the subject of stimulating the interest in rowing sports in Belarus and improving the respective infrastructure and facilities.