National bank plans to fight information about upcoming economy crisis
- 3.12.2008, 10:00
The National bank of Belarus states that identity of persons who “spread panic” would be established with the help of guarding department of in Internal Affairs Ministry of Belarus and criminal proceedings would be instituted against them.
As “Belgazeta” informs, the National Bank has sent a letter to commercial banks “On facts of unlawful acts”. Here is the quote from the document.
“Recently facts of dissemination of unverified information about the financial state of banks and bank system, attempts to persuade clients that it’s inexpedient to place new deposits with banks and necessity to return earlier placed deposits were taking place. With this aim unknown persons present themselves as relatives and friends of state bodies top officials, hold conversations with bank clients in bank halls and other rooms of banks…
With the aim to spot the unlawful acts timely, and establishing persons who perform them, we ask heads of banks’ security departments to organize control over actions of bank visitors. In case the abovementioned actions are noticed, measures for establishing personality of citizens who perform unlawful acts should be taken, with the help of guarding department officers who work in bank institutions”.
The head of information department of the National Bank Anatoly Drazdou confirmed to “Salidarnasts” newspaper that such a document exists. As said by him, the letter was written after several phone calls with similar information were received by their hotline.
- We should check whether such facts had taken place in reality, - Anatoly Drazdou commented on the document. – If it is discussion of rumours in the queue, it is one thing. And the other thing is when it is focused dissemination of misleading information. Then Article 250 “Dissemination of misleading information about goods and services” coiled be used against a detained person.
However, as it turned out, no persons “disseminating misleading information” have been detained so far.
- It could be so that no such persons exist. But we are to find out that, - he summed up.
As we have informed, the situation in the Belarusian economy is such that it is strange to say that some concrete persons circulate rumours about the upcoming crisis. The population of Belarus stops believing persuasions of the regime that the national financial system is stable. According to Interfax-West agency, the net demand for foreign currency by Belarusian citizens in November 2008 is to be equal to at least 300 mln dollars as compared to 100 mln dollars in October. From the end of October and during November the average day net demand for dollars by physical persons exceeds 15 mln dollars.
An opposite tendency was observed in the country before October: the population was a net buyer of foreign currency. And now demand for currency is 12.5 times as much as supply!