Belarusian ruble ‘unlikely to fall as fast’ as Russian one
2014-03-04 10:29:16
The Belarusian ruble is unlikely to lose value as fast as the Russian ruble, BelTA learned from Vadim Iosub, a financial analyst of the official partner of Alpari Company in Minsk.
On 3 March the Russian ruble hit its historic low against the US dollar and the euro. The former was traded at RUB36.38 per $1 (RUB0.1937 up) while the latter was traded at RUB50.15 (RUB0.567 up). Russia’s Central Bank has raised the key interest rate in order to stop the plunge of the Russian ruble and quotations of corporate shares on the back of reports about the possible use of military force in Crimea and threats of economic sanctions against Russia.
Speaking about the potential influence of these events on the exchange rate of the Belarusian ruble, Vadim Iosub pointed out the rising value of the Belarusian ruble against the Russian ruble in the last two months. “The present exchange rate policy of the National Bank virtually targets the exchange rate of the American dollar, therefore, the fall of the Russian currency affects the exchange rate of the Belarusian ruble to a lesser extent,” he noted.
The expert remarked that the trend is likely to continue. In other words, the Belarusian ruble will lose value against foreign currencies smoothly. “Meanwhile, there is a probability that if the Russian ruble keeps losing value that fast, the downslide of the Belarusian ruble may become faster,” said the expert.