Belarus exchange offices run out of foreign currency
May 24th, 2011 - 4:30 pm ICT by IANSMinsk, May 24 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Belarusian cash exchange bureaus ran out of foreign currency Tuesday after the sudden devaluation of the national currency and a surge in exchange rates.
The National Bank of Belarus devalued the national currency Monday by 56 percent against the US dollar. The official Belarusian ruble rate for May 24 has been set at 4,930 to the dollar.
Almost all exchange offices in the country have set the same rates of 5,000 Belarusian rubles to the dollar, 7,000 to the euro and 175 to the Russian ruble.
The Belarusian National Bank said Monday it would regulate the exchange rate, banning other banks’ currency exchange offices from selling or buying the Belarusian ruble at rates more than two percent above the rate established by the National Bank.
In the first quarter of this year, Belarus’s gold and currency reserves shrank on rumours of the possible devaluation of the Belarusian ruble, which triggered an acute demand for foreign currency.
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Tags: banks, belarus, belarusian, cash exchange, currency exchange, currency reserves, exchange bureaus, exchange offices, exchange rate, exchange rates, first quarter, foreign currency, may 24, national bank, national currency, ria novosti, rubles, rumours, russian ruble, sudden devaluation