Residents of the Belarusian regions have complained that the currency exchange offices lack foreign currency. "I decided to buy $200. I tried all the "exchangers" in Biaroza town in the afternoon — no results. All of them are run out of currency. The demand turned out to be so high that one can buy dollars only in the morning ..," a resident of Biaroza town said.
The department of Belagroprombank at Lenin Street in Biaroza town confirmed the absence of currency. «We don’t have dollars! One has to buy them in the morning, because people began to take the currency very readily — they buy by thousands … When did it start? A buying fever burst out around two weeks ago, people are buying dollars and Euros rapidly. I’ll give you a piece of advice: come in the morning,» the cashier said.
Department manager Svetlana Koshel doesn’t agree that the problem is acute, but confirms that the demand for currency has suddenly increased in recent weeks. «We transfer $5 thousand a day to every cash processing center. But it’s sold within one to two hours. Why? It’s difficult to say. It maybe panic … You know, there are stable enterprises in our city — a cheese-making factory, a meat-packing plant. Well-to-do people work, and they can afford to buy the currency. Although, frankly speaking, nobody was particularly interested in it the other weeks,» the expert said.
People from Ivatsevichy and Belaaziorsk also complain about the lack of currency in the exchange offices, «Vecherny Brest» reports.
Head of Press Service of the Belarusian National Bank Anatoly Drozdov confirmed that an increase in the foreign currency demand is observed in the regions. «There are several reasons. Significant role is played by the negativity stuffing of the incumbent president’s rivals, who promise either a meltdown, or a collapse … That’s why people run to the banks. Something similar was observed in winter-spring 2009, when some suspicion was born from scratch, people expected the devaluation, withdrew ruble deposits. But there was no crash! There can also be another reason: the villagers received income for the agricultural production and began to buy foreign currency increasingly. And, you know, how slack the banks are in the province,» Anatoly Drozdov said.
