During the political crisis in the republic, Belarusian banks have noticeably improved the conditions for deposits in foreign currencies – dollars, euros and Russian rubles. Local subsidiaries of RF credit institutions offer much higher returns than parent banks. Analysts interviewed by Izvestia warned Russians about the risks of the idea of obtaining increased income in a neighboring country.
According to Valery Emelyanov, an expert at Freedom Finance, Belarus, in principle, is characterized by high levels of interest rates on deposits. He stressed that only five years ago, the National Bank lent to local banks at 25%, and the corresponding yield was on deposits.
“In principle, the market is morally ready for a high premium for attracting savings. Now Belarusians are actively buying up foreign currency in order to insure against a possible collapse of the ruble, and thereby push the rates up, ”Emelyanov said.
At the same time, Finam analyst Alexey Korenev is sure that if the situation in Belarus gets out of control, the rates will definitely skyrocket, but along with them the risks of losing money will grow. As an example, he cited the situation with default in 1998, when the yield on Russian government bonds exceeded 150%.
In turn, the investment strategist of BCS Premier Alexander Bakhtin said that foreign exchange products are not so profitable to justify investments in jurisdictions with increased risk. He warned that if one wants to invest in Belarusian banks, it would be more correct to wait for the situation in the country to stabilize.
In addition, analysts expressed the opinion that the situation with rates will also depend on whether and which sanctions will be applied to Belarus.
Read more in the exclusive material of Izvestia:
With faith in euro: Belarusian banks have sharply raised rates on deposits in foreign currency