Forex Clients On Rise In Belarus; The Number Jumps By 30%

Forex Clients On Rise In Belarus; The Number Jumps By 30%

Belarus, a landlocked country in Eastern Europe has recorded an increase in the number of forex brokers. The forex client base has increased by 30% whereas the share of non-resident clients increased to 93.9%. At the start of last month, the number of active clients exercising trading activities jumped to 239’400.

The above data was published by the Financial Market Development Association of Belarus(ARFIN). This is a body that operates on the over-the-counter forex markets in Belarus.

The increase in the number of clients has been an expected move, considering the critics the country has been through due to its involvement in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

However, this positive status stabilized mid-this year after investors stopped withdrawing their funds from their accounts when the Ukraine war calmed a bit.

“Taking into account that since February, the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus has not introduced any currency restrictions, including those related to transfers of funds in foreign currency, withdrawal of foreign currency cash, etc. traders had complete freedom in the disposal of their funds, which in turn, convinced retail investors of the ability of Belarusian forex companies to fulfill their obligations in full even in shock periods,” Sidorov said.

Why Non-residents are Commanding Belarus

The ballooning number of clients have been highly contributed by the funds’ Belarusian forex brokers raised during the first three quarter of 2022. 

In the record issued by ARFIN, Belarus traders deposited US$293.6 million in their respective accounts. However, 91.1% of these funds were injected into the accounts by non-resident clients.

Through the analysis, the ARFIN confirmed that Belarus brokers were able to achieve 80% of funds recorded in 2021 within the nine months of 2022. The funds are only short by US$74 million.

In addition, the research done by the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus found that faintly less than 2% of the country’s population contributes to the country’s financial markets. 40% of the population has zero engagement in the financial sector or any investment whatsoever. This gives a clear reason why the country has more non-residents participating in forex trading in Belarus.

The Chairman of ARFIN confirmed that the dominating presence of non-resident clients, has been caused by the easiness of selling Belarusian jurisdictions. Among the jurisdictions include the permission of leverage of up to 200.