Ongoing protests and heightened risk of political stalemate set to affect profitability and asset quality in the banking sector.

With its infrastructure being overhauled, a renewed focus on SME lending and mobile banking taking off, Belarus appears to be on an upward spiral. 

The chairman of the board at the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus talks about addressing the country’s vulnerability to trade tensions and the fluctuations of the Russian ruble.

Belarus’s economy is in good shape, but concerns linger over the high level of non-performing loans and the dominant role of the state in the banking sector. Michael Imeson reports.

Belarus is gradually coming out of recession though its public sector reforms are too slow for some. This, combined with high dollarisation, could restrict its growth, writes Stefanie Linhardt.

High NPL levels, an economy in need of de-dollarisation and the prominence of state-owned institutions are behind moves to consolidate and improve Belarus's banking sector. However, as Stefanie Linhardt reports, the pace of change is not as fast as some had hoped.

Belarus has been hit hard by falling oil prices, its heavy dependence on Russian exports and the devaluation of the rouble, which has led to a contraction of the economy. But banks are looking to SME financing – as well as a spell of de-dollarisation – to get the country back on a sound financial footing.

Belarus’s first deputy minister of the economy, Alexander Zaborovskiy, explains how a flexible exchange rate scheme and a more attractive investment environment can help the country survive knock-on effects of the economic difficulties facing neighbouring Russia and Ukraine.