Business news

MINSK, 1 October (BelTA) – Belarus’ National Bank and the Central Bank of Russia signed an agreement on cooperation in countering computer attacks, BelTA learned from the information and public relations office of the National Bank following a regular meeting of the Interbank Monetary Council of the central banks of the two countries in Grozny on 29 September.

The document was signed by Chairman of the National Bank Board Pavel Kallaur and Chairperson of the Central Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina.

The agreement defines the basic forms and order of bilateral cooperation in the prevention, detection and suppression of computer attacks and aims to improve the information security of the central banks of Russia and Belarus.

These issues will be addressed in the program of cooperation to fight computer attacks in the monetary sphere and to prevent fraud in electronic payment transactions. The program is currently under development by specialists of the central banks of the two countries. During the meeting the members of the Interbank Currency Council discussed progress in the work on the draft program and agreed on further actions to prepare this document.

Participants of the meeting of the Interbank Currency Council exchanged information on the current economic situation and the progress made in the implementation of the monetary policy in Belarus and Russia in 2018, the main monetary guidelines of Belarus and Russia for 2019. The parties also discussed measures to improve the currency legislation, ways to de-dollarize the economies of the two countries, and the current state and planned reforms for the institute of credit histories in Belarus and Russia.

The Interbank Currency Council of the National Bank of Belarus and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation was established in November 1999. The main tasks of the council are to prepare intergovernmental agreements in banking activities, to harmonize the regulatory frameworks of the financial and banking sectors in order to create equal conditions for business entities of the two countries, and also prepare recommendations for the development and implementation of the coordinated monetary policy.