Belarusian National Bank sets up Br4,930 per dollar from May 24

The National Bank of Belarus has published the official exchange rate of the Belarusian ruble against foreign currencies.

$1 will cost 4,930 BYR (a 56.3% decrease against May 23 exchange rate), €1 will cost 6,914.82 BYR and 1 RUR 173.95 BYR with a fall of 53.1% and 53.9% respectively.

The currency basket, which consists of the dollar, euro and Russian ruble, costs 1,810.02 BYR on May 24 against 1,054.68 BYR on December 31, 2010, which means a 71.6% decrease against the currency basket.

The National Bank of Belarus issued a ruling No 168 on May 5 extending the fluctuation band for the Belarusian ruble to the currency basket to 12% from 8% (the level of the beginning if the year) starting on May 12, 2011. The fluctuation band for 2011 was set 8% according to main directions of the monetary policy, which was approved by the presidential decree still remaining in force.

Thus, the ruble is devalued 56.3% during one day and 64.3% since the beginning of the year.