There will be no abrupt devaluation of the national currency in Belarus, Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (NBRB) Piotr Prokopovich told BelTA.
He reminded, in early 2009 a one-time devaluation was carried out in Belarus. There will be no more single-step devaluations in the country.
This is why Belarusians have no reasons to buy up hard currencies, all the more so because the stability of national currencies of developed countries is unpredictable today.
BelTA reported earlier, at the beginning of 2009 the National Bank pegged the Belarusian ruble to the basket of three currencies - the US dollar, the euro and the Russian ruble. On January 2 the exchange rate of the national currency against the currency basket was set at Br960 after a 20% single-step devaluation of the Belarusian ruble.
The head of the country's central bank assured that in 2009 in any situation the National Bank will keep fluctuations of the exchange rate of the Belarusian ruble against the basket of currencies within 5%. On March 11 the exchange rate of the Belarusian ruble against the basket of foreign currencies increased by 0.9% and is set at Br951.4 as from March 12. The change is within the 5% band of fluctuations allowed in 2009.
Earlier NBRB Chairman of the Board Piotr Prokopovich was quoted as saying that at the end of Q1 2009 the exchange rate of the Belarusian ruble against the basket of foreign currencies will be as high as it was at the beginning of the year - Br960.