{"id":11345,"date":"2022-02-03T05:02:51","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T02:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/central-bank-said-to-be-under-pressure-to-approve-credit-expansion\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"central-bank-said-to-be-under-pressure-to-approve-credit-expansion","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11345\/","title":{"rendered":"Central bank said to be under pressure to approve credit expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n The Belarusian government may struggle to achieve this year\u2019s economic growth target if the central bank keeps a lid on inflation, experts note. The government projects a 2.9-percent economic growth, while the National Bank of Belarus is set to keep inflation below six percent.<\/b>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka told Paviel Kallaur, head of the central bank, on January 31 that both targets must be met.\n<\/p>\n

Differences between cabinet, central bank<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t \u201cEconomic growth tasks often conflict with price stability tasks,\u201d Vadzim Iosub, an Alpari Eurasia senior analyst, told BPN<\/span>, noting that combining the two tasks is \u201chigh art.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The country could cut interest rates and issue loans right and left to make the economy grow for several years, he said. But high inflation is the price the nation cannot afford to pay for such growth because Belarusians would be reluctant to keep their savings in banks and in Belarusian rubels, he went on to say.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t It is also easy to curb inflation by raising interest rates on loans and deposits. Households would keep their savings in banks, but credit would be too expensive for companies, he noted.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The central bank, which is responsible for keeping inflation in check, and the government, charged with accelerating growth, are said to differ sharply over the two approaches.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t \u201cThe government blames the National Bank for expensive credit,\u201d Iosub said. \u201cThe National Bank understandably argues that if we do what they [the government] ask, inflation will surge and the Belarusian rubel will depreciate. In other words, it would be a high price to pay for economic growth, which would be unsustainable anyway and could lead to a collapse.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Kallaur and Valieryj Bielski, a presidential aide for the development of the financial and credit system, met with Luka\u0161enka on January 31, both expecting him to back their arguments in the debate (Bielski is said to be in favor of lending expansion), but the Belarusian leader would not take sides, Iosub said.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t \u201cI want to warn you that there is no compromise when it comes to what we have approved \u2013 GDP and other indicators (stability is essential, people should not worry),\u201d Luka\u0161enka was quoted as saying. \u201cEverything we have agreed upon \u2013 inflation within the six-percent range, GDP and the economy \u2013 must be strictly implemented.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Luka\u0161enka wants both price stability, growth<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t Belarus\u2019 inflation skyrocketed several times, most notably in 2009, 2011 and 2014, during Luka\u0161enka\u2019s spell in charge of the country that has lasted for 27 years. High inflation undermines public confidence in the government and the banking system as deposits lose their value. In 2011, the country posted an annual inflation rate of 108.7 percent.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Luka\u0161enka put Kallaur in charge of the central bank in December 2014 and let him tighten the monetary policy. Kallaur managed to reduce inflation to single digits but it accelerated to 9.97 percent last year, although the rise was partly attributable to global trends.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t After the 2020 social unrest, Luka\u0161enka has closely monitored prices for fear that public discontent may boil over into a new wave of protests. At the same time, he would like to see robust economic growth. He would not take sides in the debate between the central bank and the government, hoping that officials will find a solution.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t However, in the authoritarian system, Luka\u0161enka is the only one to make big decisions. The January 31 meeting with Luka\u0161enka proves that Kallaur is finding it harder to resist pressure from the government to approve massive credit expansion.\n<\/p>\n

Barnukova: Kallaur\u2019s position still strong<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t Kallaur in a strong position to block credit expansion, said Kaciaryna Barnukova, of the Belarusian Economic Research and Outreach Center. Still, the government may approve cheap loans for companies hit by international sanctions to forestall lay-offs, she told BPN<\/span>.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t She doubts that 2.9-percent growth target is feasible.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t In his January 28 annual address, Luka\u0161enka urged the government to launch \u201ca new investment cycle\u201d as soon as possible. The government\u2019s understanding of investment boils down to funneling public funds into promising projects, Iosub said. However, officials often make mistakes in identifying promising areas for investment, wasting huge amounts of money, he noted. If such \u201cdestructive practices\u201d continue, it will be an additional burden on the budget and taxpayers, he warned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN The Belarusian government may struggle to achieve this year\u2019s economic growth target if the central bank keeps a lid on inflation, experts note. The government projects a 2.9-percent economic growth, while the National Bank of Belarus is set to keep inflation below six percent. Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka told Paviel Kallaur, head of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[22],"class_list":["post-11345","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCentral bank said to be under pressure to approve credit expansion | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN The Belarusian government may struggle to achieve this year\u2019s economic growth target if the central bank keeps a lid on\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11345\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Central bank said to be under pressure to approve credit expansion | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN The Belarusian government may struggle to achieve this year\u2019s economic growth target if the central bank keeps a lid on\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11345\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11345\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11345\/\"},\"headline\":\"Central bank said to be under pressure to approve credit expansion\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-03T02:02:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11345\/\"},\"wordCount\":716,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11345\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11345\/\",\"name\":\"Central bank said to be under pressure to approve credit expansion | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-03T02:02:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN The Belarusian government may struggle to achieve this year\u2019s economic growth target if the central bank keeps a lid on\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11345\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11345\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11345\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Central bank said to be under pressure to approve credit expansion\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Pozirk\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Central bank said to be under pressure to approve credit expansion | Pozirk","description":"By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN The Belarusian government may struggle to achieve this year\u2019s economic growth target if the central bank keeps a lid on","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11345\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Central bank said to be under pressure to approve credit expansion | Pozirk","og_description":"By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN The Belarusian government may struggle to achieve this year\u2019s economic growth target if the central bank keeps a lid on","og_url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11345\/","og_site_name":"Pozirk","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","article_modified_time":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Pozirk_online","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11345\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11345\/"},"headline":"Central bank said to be under pressure to approve credit expansion","datePublished":"2022-02-03T02:02:51+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11345\/"},"wordCount":716,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11345\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11345\/","name":"Central bank said to be under pressure to approve credit expansion | Pozirk","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-02-03T02:02:51+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","description":"By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN The Belarusian government may struggle to achieve this year\u2019s economic growth target if the central bank keeps a lid on","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11345\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11345\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11345\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Central bank said to be under pressure to approve credit expansion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","name":"Pozirk","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization","name":"Pozirk","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Pozirk"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/longreads\/11345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/longreads"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/longreads"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"rubric","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rubric?post=11345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}