The refinancing rate of the National Bank of Belarus will be increased to 12% per annum from March 16

March 11, Minsk /Corr. BELTA/. The refinancing rate of the National Bank of Belarus will be increased by 1.5 percentage points to 12% per annum from March 16, the BELTA correspondent was informed by the Information Department of the National Bank. This decision was made by the Board of the National Bank in order to adequately respond to the increase in the inflation rate observed at the beginning of the current year. "The consumer price index in February of this year was 102.7%, which is mainly due to the increase in housing and utility tariffs as a result of the increase in the purchase price of natural gas imported from the Russian Federation and the impact of the increase in world prices for energy resources and food," the press service noted. The increase in the refinancing rate by 1.5 percentage points is due to the need to unconditionally fulfill the key principle of the National Bank's interest rate policy - maintaining money market rates at a positive level in real terms to reliably protect the population's ruble deposits in banks from inflation. Against the backdrop of strict adherence to the exchange rate policy parameters stipulated by the Main Directions of Monetary Policy of Belarus for 2011, this measure will lead to a further increase in the attractiveness of ruble savings compared to foreign currency deposits. -0-