BELARUSTV — broadcast
20260807 062000 UTC
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[00:01:05] Sphere of interests on the first informational channel, we talk about
[00:01:08] notable events in the economy. I am
[00:01:11] Svetlana Lukiniuk. First, the main topics of today's
[00:01:14] issue. The National Bank increases the permissible level of debt
[00:01:18] burden indicators and softens the requirements to obtain a loan for Belarusian
[00:01:22] goods. In Belarus, the growth of investments in fixed assets is accelerating. What
[00:01:26] is the reason for the inflow and which industries are most interesting for
[00:01:29] investments? The enterprises of consumer cooperatives are having a hot
[00:01:33] time, people are actively bringing what they have grown in their gardens with
[00:01:36] abundance. We went and saw it. We will tell you about all this, and
[00:01:40] also about the current exchange rates in the next 15
[00:01:43] minutes. The National Bank softens
[00:01:47] the requirements for recipients of loans for Belarusian goods,
[00:01:50] increasing from 40 to 50% the permissible
[00:01:53] level of the debt burden indicator when providing
[00:01:56] loans for goods, works and services produced in Belarus.
[00:02:10] We will talk more about this right now with the Deputy Chairman
[00:02:14] of the Board of the National Bank of Belarus Andrei Kartun. Andrei
[00:02:17] Mikhailovich, we welcome you. So, tell us more about
[00:02:21] our possibilities for borrowers to purchase
[00:02:24] Belarusian goods. What does this increase in
[00:02:28] the debt burden threshold mean? Well, let's start with what the debt
[00:02:31] burden indicator is, so that everyone understands. It is essentially
[00:02:34] the ratio of all your credit payments that
[00:02:38] you are currently making and that you will potentially make with this loan
[00:02:42] for which you apply to the bank, to your
[00:02:45] total income. Accordingly, this
[00:02:48] standard is currently set at 40%. This means
[00:02:51] that your loan payments cannot exceed 40%
[00:02:55] of your income in ratio. That is, the bank looks at
[00:02:58] this, yes, certain deviations are allowed, plus or minus,
[00:03:01] no more than 10% for certain types of credit,
[00:03:04] but in general, banks always adhere to it. But in fact,
[00:03:08] we don't have such a high debt burden indicator for
[00:03:12] the population in principle, we have a little more than 27%.
[00:03:16] This is the exact debt burden indicator,
[00:03:20] well, if we compare it with many countries in the world, it is one of the lowest
[00:03:23] indicators. We have such remarkable statistics,
[00:03:27] somewhere around 1.80 with
[00:03:30] some hundredths. This accounts
[00:03:34] for loans for our entire population, that is, not many
[00:03:37] loans, just over one, well, maybe almost two. So,
[00:03:41] we decided to expand
[00:03:44] this corridor, to set it at
[00:03:48] 50% for goods from domestic producers. We
[00:03:51] see that there is good dynamics for loans for goods
[00:03:54] of domestic production, there was more than 35%
[00:03:58] in the first half of the year... We just looked at
[00:04:01] potential borrowers and in general, the structure of
[00:04:04] borrowers, who they are, who takes
[00:04:08] loans for domestic products, namely
[00:04:10] consumer goods, for furniture and household appliances. So,
[00:04:14] predominantly, if we look at the clients,
[00:04:17] these are clients with an income from
[00:04:20] 2,000 to 3,000, this is actually more than
[00:04:23] half of all potential borrowers
[00:04:27] of banks who take such loans. Therefore,
[00:04:30] it is precisely these borrowers, it is clear that due
[00:04:34] to the limited nature of their income, they run into this
[00:04:37] 40% coefficient that I mentioned. Accordingly, we
[00:04:41] decided to slightly increase this threshold for this
[00:04:44] category of loans, and accordingly, you
[00:04:47] will no longer have enough for just two chairs,
[00:04:51] or perhaps you will have enough for a sofa at
[00:04:54] some relatively low income level,
[00:04:57] that's exactly what we are increasing. Chairman
[00:05:43] of the Board of the National Bank of Belarus Andrei
[00:05:45] Kartun.
[00:05:48] In Belarus, the growth of investments in fixed assets is accelerating. In
[00:05:51] January-June, the volume of investments increased by more than
[00:05:55] 4% year-on-year, after one and a half percent in
[00:05:58] January-May. Capital inflow is a new opportunity for individual
[00:06:02] enterprises and economic growth in general. The Eurasian Development
[00:06:05] Bank forecasts an increase in investment activity
[00:06:09] and GDP growth. What is the reason for this?
[00:06:42] activity after a slump at the beginning of the year. Well,
[00:06:46] I recall that in January-February, this, as we
[00:06:49] believe, slump was largely due to weather
[00:06:52] factors, that is, abnormally low temperatures in winter
[00:06:56] generally significantly limited opportunities for construction, which in general
[00:07:00] is an important component of investment. Well,
[00:07:03] in the second quarter, as we see, investments grew by 10% in
[00:07:07] annual terms, this is after a decrease of
[00:07:09] 2.7% in the first. Well,
[00:07:13] it is clear that partly the growth is due to the recovery dynamics
[00:07:16] of contract work, but this is due to the fact that construction
[00:07:20] organizations increased activity after forced
[00:07:23] downtime in the first months, but we
[00:07:26] believe that this is only one factor.
[00:07:30] An important role, in our opinion, is played by state policy to stimulate
[00:07:34] investments. If we look at investments from
[00:07:37] the point of view of financing,
[00:07:40] then in general, all the growth for the first half of the year, which amounted
[00:07:44] to 4.1%, was provided by budget
[00:07:48] sources of bank loans. I would like to dwell
[00:07:51] on the last source in more detail,
[00:07:55] but in principle, under the policy of the National Bank to
[00:07:58] stimulate investments,
[00:08:02] investment loans for the first
[00:08:05] half of the year were issued by banks in the amount of about 3.6
[00:08:08] billion rubles, excuse me,
[00:08:42] is it possible to attract loans and not use your own funds, which
[00:08:46] can be used, for example, for turnover?
[00:08:49] As for the Eurasian region as a whole, what do analysts
[00:08:52] of the EDB note regarding investment activity, for example,
[00:08:56] in the Central Asian countries?
[00:08:59] Well, if we look at it as a whole, then
[00:09:03] high investments are indeed maintained in the regions of Central Asia and
[00:09:06] Armenia. The growth there is largely
[00:09:07] due
[00:09:10] to indeed high investment activity, because the countries are actively
[00:09:13] developing, they have,
[00:09:17] among other things, the so-called demographic dividend,
[00:09:20] they have too much young population,
[00:09:24] which needs new jobs. Well, here I would
[00:09:27] also talk about the state's
[00:09:29] policy, primarily Kazakhstan and
[00:09:33] Uzbekistan, which are pursuing an active
[00:09:35] policy. Well, Kazakhstan is
[00:09:39] diversifying its economy, Uzbekistan is industrializing
[00:09:42] its economy, and naturally, when you start, especially for
[00:09:46] Uzbekistan from a low base, the growth rates of investment will always be
[00:09:49] high. As for the Russian
[00:09:52] Federation, here we observe a decline in investment
[00:09:55] activity, this is due
[00:09:58] to the strict monetary policy pursued by the Central
[00:10:01] Bank, but this was aimed at
[00:10:05] reducing inflation, well, in principle, according to the latest
[00:10:08] figures, we see that he succeeded in this.
[00:10:13] Probably, one can expect a gradual
[00:10:16] easing of monetary
[00:10:19] conditions, which
[00:10:21] will allow gradually restarting
[00:10:25] the investment cycle, well, probably,
[00:10:28] one can expect it no earlier than 2027.
[00:10:31] Thank you very much, this was Anton Dolgovechny, senior
[00:10:35] analyst at the Eurasian Development Bank.
[00:10:38] Now, the results of trading on the Belarusian currency and stock exchange. The Belarusian ruble
[00:10:42] strengthened against the Russian ruble, lost value against the dollar and yuan.
[00:10:45] So, the dollar costs 2 rubles 94 kopecks.
[00:10:49] The euro exchange rate according to the National Bank is 3.39. For 10
[00:10:53] yuan, 4 rubles were given at the auction.
[00:11:03] And now we will tell you about the opportunity to earn money for those who have grown a good
[00:11:07] harvest. So, in the last six months, Belarusians have sold surplus
[00:11:10] agricultural products for almost 80 million rubles. Now
[00:11:14] the enterprises of consumer cooperatives are working hard, people are actively
[00:11:17] bringing what they have grown in their gardens in abundance. Belkapsoyuz helps
[00:11:21] with such a wealth of household gifts.
[00:11:25] It sets itself a triple task - to buy, preserve and
[00:11:28] sell. Our correspondent Anastasia
[00:11:31] Strelkovskaya on why coming to the procurement
[00:11:34] point, you won't leave empty-handed, you'll be in the black
[00:11:38] and help the country.
[00:11:41] Every summer, especially one like this, sometimes pleasing us with rain, sometimes
[00:11:44] with scorching sun, is a time when many lovers of working
[00:11:48] on their plots somewhere outside the city become owners of that
[00:11:52] very useful currency, in the form of cucumbers, tomatoes,
[00:11:55] apples, mushrooms and berries. Some use their capital
[00:11:59] themselves, some exchange it for a penny, already
[00:12:02] real, though maybe not a penny. For
[00:12:05] Vitaly Chuchot, the road to the procurement point,
[00:12:08] which is at the market in Slutsk, has long been trodden. Everyone knows
[00:12:12] him here and loves what he brings, juicy fruits
[00:12:15] of the land of the agro-town Viseya. We plant vegetables,
[00:12:18] potatoes, beets, onions,
[00:12:22] as far as possible we prepare for ourselves.
[00:12:25] to live for a year, and the rest, what
[00:12:29] is superfluous, we hand over here to the reception point, we earn money on this
[00:12:32] and quite well, we save for our children's
[00:12:35] education, everything, they help us, and we
[00:12:39] all work together as a family. Any ways to replenish the family
[00:12:43] budget are good, especially when you sell at adequate prices.
[00:12:46] Potatoes for a kilogram from 80 kopecks. Tomatoes from
[00:12:50] 2.5 rubles, chanterelles from six. If
[00:12:53] you also take into account that not...
[00:13:14] but the main mass of potatoes, chanterelles we have seasonally, blueberries,
[00:13:16] cranberries, strawberries, garden
[00:13:19] strawberries, well, everyone brings them little by little.
[00:13:23] The past six months have shown that the country's cooperatives
[00:13:27] were able to increase procurement volumes by
[00:13:30] 14% more than in the same period in 2025.
[00:13:34] During this time, they purchased a total of 6,000 tons of potatoes,
[00:13:37] 11,000 tons of vegetables, fruits and berries,
[00:13:40] 4,500 and over 20
[00:13:43] tons of wild plants, and the assortment of products being sold delights
[00:13:47] with its variety. Today Belarusian cucumbers are present year-round
[00:13:50] in retail chains, tomatoes, then early
[00:13:54] cabbage. Moreover, cabbage comes in numerous varieties,
[00:13:57] both white cabbage and cauliflower, and
[00:14:01] Chinese cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and so on,
[00:14:04] carrots, beets, onions, garlic, the same
[00:14:07] zucchini, eggplants, peppers, all of this
[00:14:11] we are ready to purchase from the population today and sell
[00:14:15] on the domestic market, as well as to processing enterprises of the Republic
[00:14:18] of Belarus. And if you still decide to give something from your
[00:14:22] bins, but there is a fear that your labor will be wasted
[00:14:25] somewhere else, then there is nothing
[00:14:28] to worry about, the question of where to sell the goods does not even
[00:14:32] arise. The products that we procure, we
[00:14:35] sell through our own retail network, we have a store on the market
[00:14:39] territory, and an auto shop,
[00:14:42] as well as to third-party organizations, baby
[00:14:45] food, canteens, the supplier has the opportunity
[00:14:49] to deliver these products either through
[00:14:52] the reception and procurement point located at... to sell apples,
[00:15:10] which have grown so well this year. But there is an
[00:15:14] answer: everyone has the right to order a car to take away their
[00:15:17] rich harvest. But there is also that category of owners who
[00:15:21] enjoy trying on the role of a sales manager.
[00:16:07] his assistants, that there is enough for himself and others
[00:16:10] get some. Our consumer cooperation only helps this
[00:16:14] abundance not to go to waste, so that everyone who bought or sold
[00:16:18] would benefit. Anastasia Strelkovskaya, Alexander
[00:16:21] Yasyulevich, sphere
[00:16:23] of interests.
[00:16:29] This is the first informational, main news in economics and finance, as well as
[00:16:32] relevant comments. Watch the sphere of interests
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