Belarusians Are Spending Their Foreign Currency Savings

The trend has changed.

The National Bank provided information that the purchase of foreign currency by Belarusians amounted to $703.3 million, and $810.7 million were sold in April. This means that net sales amounted to $107.4 million. Before February 2023, the situation was different, the population bought foreign currency rather than sold it, according to the Nashy Hroshy Telegram channel.

However, the trend has changed, and from February to April the population has already sold currency in the amount of more than $200 million on a net basis.

In April, two currency market segments for individuals, cash and non-cash transactions, maintained their usual trend. The Belarusians traditionally sold more cash than they bought. Here, in April, net sales were $217 million. Cash purchases for the month decreased by 14%, while sales fell only by 5%. With non-cash, the situation is traditionally the opposite: last month, individuals bought non-cash currency for $109.6 million more than they sold.

Apparently, even despite the growth in earnings and the inflation decrease, Belarusians are in no hurry to buy the dollar and euro as they used to. In turn, problems with international transfers could reduce the demand for non-cash currency.