Addressing Roman Golovchenko, recently appointed Chairman of the Board of the National Bank after serving as the country’s prime minister, the head of state emphasized his expectation for a balanced, objective assessment of the overall economic situation. «I wouldn’t say you’re completely uninvolved now, but you do have somewhat of an outside perspective. As an experienced professional, your evaluation of Belarus’ current economic situation is particularly valuable. You need to tell me what requires our primary attention — that’s the most important thing,» the president remarked.

«And secondly. As I already warned the head of the Belarus President Administration, today’s meeting and your report on the situation in the country, particularly in banking and finance, doesn’t mean I won’t convene another meeting with specialists and heads of our banks — primarily the National Bank — to once and for all clearly declare what policy we’ll pursue in the near future and what my position is regarding the National Bank and related matters,» the head of state added.

Special attention was given to the growth of aggregate banking profits nationwide. While this could be viewed as a positive indicator on one hand, concerns exist about potential economic imbalances should banks excessively withdraw liquidity from circulation.

Consequently, the government has implemented a policy measure to recapture a portion of banking profits, redirecting these funds to finance economic development initiatives.

«This is critically important,» emphasized Aleksandr Lukashenko. «Banks shouldn’t have ‘excess’ money. After all, their profits ultimately come from those who deposit funds there — this is fundamentally how it works. Therefore, I strongly expect this principle to be maintained. The economy must grow, and the banking system must actively facilitate economic growth.»

Photo: BelTA