What is the currency in Belarus? Like us, Russians, Belarusians have their own ruble, it’s also a “bunny”. This is an interesting currency. It was created in conditions of a difficult transitional period for Belarus after the collapse of the USSR, but nevertheless it took place as a full-fledged currency sign recognized by all countries of the world.
Belarusian ruble: interesting facts
What is the name of the currency in Belarus? Definitely - the ruble. But in the early 90s, when the independent Republic of Belarus was working on the creation of banknotes, there was an idea to call the national banknote “thaler”. This is what some types of coins in Germany were called in the Middle Ages, and this word became common in Europe. Thaler became the prototype of the dollar, as well as a number of other currencies at different times.
True, this initiative was not adopted by the Presidium of the Supreme Council of Belarus - the majority of votes opposed. Another fact: Belarusians sometimes call their currency “bunnies”. This is because on the banknotes in denominations of 1 ruble issued in 1992, a hare was depicted. The people very quickly adapted to call the new currency the name of this furry animal.
Belarusian ruble: history
After the collapse of the USSR, all the former republics began to print their banknotes. What currency in Belarus should appear as an alternative to the Soviet ruble, the local government began to think in 1992. First, the so-called coupons were introduced. In May 1992, the National Bank of the country introduced “settlement tickets”, which began to be used simultaneously with the ruble (still Soviet-style). When buying something in the store, you had to pay with both types of settlement funds. In July 1992, the national Belarusian rubles appeared, however, in cashless form: they were in the Central Bank of Russia on a special correspondent account. Against the backdrop of the ex-Soviet republics leaving the ruble zone in 1992, Belarus banned paying with banknotes of Russian origin and Soviet times and secured “tickets” as the only legitimate means of paying for goods and services.
In 1993, rubles were withdrawn from circulation. In 1994, the National Bank of the country announced the decree "On the means of payment of the Republic of Belarus." According to this document, a new currency appeared in the country - the Belarusian ruble. Settlement tickets were exchanged for it in a ratio of 1 to 10. In the same year, the ruble was denominated so that the cost of these two means of payment was equalized. The national banknote of Belarus began to be traded on exchanges. Foreigners from this moment, in turn, now had to keep in mind what currency to take to Belarus.
90s inflation
Before deciding which currency in Belarus would be able to fulfill the function of a full-fledged means of payment, the country's bankers worked in difficult economic conditions. When it was finally approved, the young state felt the full reality of the post-Soviet collapse. In the 90s, due to inflationary processes, a new type of currency of the Republic of Belarus constantly grew in nominal value and at the same time became cheaper in relation to the main world banknotes. For example, at the beginning of 1994, the dollar was worth 3800 hares, and in December - already more than 10,000. In 1995, the ruble continued to get cheaper, but slower - in March the American banknote was worth about 12,000 Belarusian units. Moreover, until the spring of 1996, exchange rate fluctuations were completely insignificant. True, as some financial analysts note , this was due to a large loan from the IMF - about $ 300 million. However, in mid-1996, the Belarusian ruble again began to lose in value. By December, the rate was set at 1 to 15,000. And this, as experts noted, is only a nominal figure. The real market ratio required about 26,000 units of the banknote of Belarus per US dollar.
By December 1998, the exchange rate reached the level of 1 in 320,000. In 2000, the Belarusian ruble underwent a denomination - banknotes with a face value of 1 to 5000 national banknotes were introduced. Belarusians, especially entrepreneurs, sometimes used exactly American monetary units in their calculations. Residents of the country, as some experts note, did not even know how much money in Belarus was considered national — dollars or “hares”.
2000s: relative stability?
In the year of the denomination, the Belarusian ruble continued to drop sharply - by December the dollar exchange rate was 1 to 1180. But in the next few years there was a relative smoothness in adjusting the cost of the “bunny”. From 2001 to 2008, the Belarusian ruble exchange rate rose to 2100-2200 units per dollar.
The first surge in devaluation in a long time occurred in early 2009, when the bank note of Belarus fell to the value of 2650 per 1 unit of the US currency. By the middle of the year, the figure had increased to 4930. In practice, two courses appeared - official and “underground”. By October, 8680 Belarusian rubles were required to be paid for 1 US dollar. From then until now, however, the exchange rate of Belarus has not changed very much. Now for 1 dollar you need to pay about 10 thousand Belarusian rubles.
What the Belarusian ruble exchange rate depends on
The national currency of Belarus is affected by many factors. Now, as many economists admit , the country's economy is undergoing difficult times. Belarus needs to pay external debts, diversify exports. If the solution to these issues is unsuccessful, then the country's national currency, analysts believe, will become cheaper. Experts believe that Russia plays an important role here. At the end of last year, at the highest level, it was possible to agree that the Russian Federation will give Belarus a loan of 10 million dollars for 10 years. Also, state banks in Russia can provide additional loans to a neighboring country. At the very end of 2013, Belarus received a loan from VTB in the amount of $ 440 million, however, analysts believe that this is not enough given the payment of a public debt of $ 3.6 billion in 2014. What Belarus has a way out? The first, experts say, is the sale of state-owned enterprises, privatization. The second is to negotiate with other countries (primarily with Russia) regarding further work with public debt. The course of the national currency will largely depend on how the Government of Belarus conducts business in each of these areas. What currency in Belarus is stable, promising or crisis-prone? The question is quite complicated, and not all experts can answer it unambiguously.
Rubles and Altyns
The currency of Belarus, as well as its Russian counterpart, is one of the leading means of payment in the Customs Union - an interstate economic union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Recently, information appeared in the media that soon, along with the banknotes of the three countries, a new monetary unit, Altyn, will appear. According to this information, the currency can be put into circulation by 2025 (and in some media there are forecasts where 2019 appears).
There are experts who claim that there is already an interstate, albeit unofficial, agreement on the circulation of this banknote. The initiative of the governments of the three countries is associated, according to analysts, with the complication of the international political situation, as well as with the fact that the integration of economies may require the introduction of universal means of settlement.