20 January, Minsk /BELTA/. The refinancing rate of the National Bank of Belarus will be reduced to 22-23% by the end of 2012. This was stated today by First Deputy Chairman of the Board of the National Bank Nikolai Luzgin at a meeting of the Republican Directors' Club, organised by the Kunyavsky Business Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers, as reported by a BELTA correspondent. Given the stabilised currency market and slowing inflation, the National Bank will pursue a gradual and step-by-step reduction of the refinancing rate throughout 2012. Nikolai Luzgin does not rule out that the first reduction of the refinancing rate in the current year will be considered by the Board of the National Bank in the first quarter. "There will be a discussion regarding the size of the step for reducing the refinancing rate," he believes. The first weeks of the new year confirm optimistic forecasts regarding the exchange rate of the Belarusian ruble, noted the First Deputy Chairman of the Board of the National Bank. The population continues to sell more currency than it buys, which allows the National Bank to manage with minimal currency interventions and avoid depleting gold and foreign exchange reserves. The current refinancing rate of the National Bank is 45% and was set on 12 December 2011. -0-

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