"We have to do something with these Belarussian
rubles,"
exclaims one Belarussian as she shops to turn worthless rubles
(BYR) into physical assets.
As AFP reports,The Belarussian currency was
dragged down by the slide of the Russian ruble last week, leading
authorities to impose draconian measures, forbid price increases
even for imported goods, and warn people against panic. Now,
however, in an effort to stem the flood of hyperinflating domestic
prices,
authorities have blocked online stores and news websites to
stop the run on banks and shopsas people scramble to
secure their savings. One of the blocked news websites noted, it
"looks like the authorities want to turn light panic over the
fall of the Belarussian ruble into a real one,"
calling the blockages "December insanity."
And indeed they have stepped up the insanity, extending the
halt in FX trading...
Today the Belarus central bank shocked its own population when
it also announced full-blown capital controls designed, releasing
additional measures to stem the "negative trends of currency and
financial markets " including raising mandatory sales of FX revenue
to 0%, suspending all OTC FX trading (so pretty much all FX),
introducing a 30% fee on all FX purchases, "recommending" that
banks halt BYR lending until February, and sending 1-yr interest
rates on liquidity operations with banks to a eyewatering 50% in
hopes this leads to an increase in BYR deposit rates. It will. What
it won't lead to is stabilization in the deposit market as the
natives realize they too are next up on the hyperinflation
train.
End result:
through 2017...
BELARUS HALTS OTC TRANSACTIONS IN FX UNTIL 2017:
INTERFAX
As AFP reports
,
Belarus blocked online stores and news websites Sunday, in
an apparent attempt to stop a run on banks and shops as people
rushed to secure their savings.
In a statement Sunday, BelaPAN news company, which runs popular
independent news websites Belapan.by and Naviny.by, said that the
sites were blocked Saturday without any warning.
"Clearly the decision to block the IP addresses could only be
taken by the authorities
because in Belarus the government has monopoly on providing
IPs,"it said.
Other websites blocked Sunday were Charter97.by,
BelarusPartisan.org, Udf.by and others with an independent news
outlook.
The blockage started on December 19, when the government
announced that purchases of foreign currency will be taxed 30
percent and told all exporters to convert half of their foreign
revenues into the local currency.
"Looks like the authorities want to turn light panic over
the fall of the Belarussian ruble into a real one,"Belarus
Partisan website wrote, calling the blockages "December
insanity."
Internet shopping websites were also blocked en
masse.Thirteen online stores were blocked Saturday for
raising their prices or showing them in US dollars, deputy trade
minister Irina Narkevich said, Interfax reported.
The government announced a moratorium on price increases for
consumer goods and ordered domestic producers of appliances to
"increase deliveries" and keep prices the same at the risk of their
management being sacked.
Belarussians lined up for hours to clear out their bank
accounts and swept store shelves to secure their savings,
stocking up on foreign-made appliances and housewares.
The Belarussian ruble has lost about half of its value
since the beginning of the year, having been hit hard by
the depreciation of the Russian ruble since its economy is heavily
dependent on its giant neighbour.
With foreign currency swiftly depleted in exchange offices,
Belarussians even launched a black market website
dollarnash.comwhere individuals could buy and sell dollars
and euros.
And then there's this...
Belarus has introduced a 30% tax on the purchase of foreign
currency...
$ 460 million will bring to the Belarusian budget
introduction of a 30% tax on the purchase of foreign currency in
Belarus.This is the TV channel "Belarus 1" said First
Deputy Minister of Finance of the country Maxim Ermolovich.
"Given the daily supply and demand in the foreign exchange
market budget revenues will amount to about 5 trillion Belarusian
rubles, or $ 460 million at the exchange rate of the National
Bank", - he said.
Recall, December 19 NBB announced the introduction of
December 20 temporary levy of 30% on the purchase of foreign
currency for individuals and legal entitiesin connection
with the sharply increased demand for foreign currency in the
domestic market of Belarus. Legal persons will pay the tax on the
stock exchange, and individuals - in the form of bank commission
when buying foreign currency.
* * *
Expect to see more of this...
h/t @Russian_Market