Shape of foreign exchange market points to deceleration of business activity in Belarus

February witnessed the largest amount of net purchases of foreign currency by legal entities since August 2013 against the backdrop of the lowest currency supply by this economic sector over the last two years. This means reduced demand for Belarusian goods on the foreign markets, lower volumes of industrial output, and the need to look for foreign currency loans to preserve the declining volume of gold and forex reserves. Growing pressure on the country’s leadership to change the exchange rate policy as regards the Belarusian rouble exerted by the industrial sector cannot be ruled out.