Dollar costs 15,000 Belarusian rubles in exchange offices

Both the dollar and the euro have grown by 623 and 667 Belarusian rubles respectively since the beginning of last week.

Experts explained the increase with the introduction of a new principle of trade – the continuous double auction. They forecast daily fluctuations in exchange rates, because traders need to get used to the new rules. The exchange rates went down on the first day, but grew for the next two days. Minsk exchange offices were selling the dollar for 15,000 Belarusian rubles on Wednesday. Experts say in an attempt to calm down the public that the trend doesn't mean the exchange rates will continue to grow due to the new rules, Komsomolskaya Pravda v Belarusi writes.

However, there's a risk that foreign currency rates will rise.

“The number of requests for purchase of foreign currency exceeds that the number of requests for sale, and the exchange rate goes up immediately. The National Bank can intervene, but such interventions are limited by the small amount of the country's gold and foreign currency reserves,” analytic at TeleTrade company Mikhail Paddubski says. “Anyway, any central bank is not able to change external conditions to level the exchange rate. It can only reduce fluctuations a little.”