It is premature to talk about denomination in Belarus - N. Ermakova

March 21, Minsk / Anna Kot - BELTA /. It is premature to talk about carrying out a denomination in Belarus. This opinion was expressed during a direct line in the newspaper "Respublika" by the Chairman of the Board of the National Bank, Nadezhda Yermakova, according to a BELTA correspondent. "This is a very serious issue. Against the backdrop of the national currency devaluation that has occurred, given the inflation rate we had last year, it is premature to talk about carrying out a denomination. We need to restore economic growth first, ensure the stable functioning of the monetary system, and achieve interest rates that are acceptable - at least below 10%. Then it will be possible to consider this issue," the head of the National Bank noted. At the same time, it should be taken into account that any denomination always causes a certain increase in inflation. "It is possible that we will remove the extra zeros when the incomes of the population grow and banknotes simply will not fit in our wallets. But this will not happen today or tomorrow," said Nadezhda Yermakova. Answering the question whether, after the introduction of the Br200 thousand banknote into circulation, one should expect the appearance of a Br500 thousand banknote soon, the head of the National Bank said: "I hope this will not happen. But if the situation suddenly develops in such a way that we need a Br500 thousand banknote, then it would be more correct to carry out a denomination." Nadezhda Yermakova also answered the question whether the National Bank plans to issue coins - not commemorative ones, as they are currently issued, but circulating ones. "I think there is no such need. Although there are different opinions. The fact is that issuing coins is a very costly project. Imagine how much metal is needed - it will be much more expensive than issuing paper banknotes. And then we will have to buy counting machines, and do it for currency, because they are not produced in our country. Additional expenses will fall on cash collection and cashiers," the head of the National Bank noted. -0-