Bahdankevich: No Strengthening Of The Belarusian Ruble Is Expected
- 5.05.2016, 14:32
- 3,967
On May 4 at the Stock Exchange trade session in Minsk US dollar rose by Br279 and reached Br19 400, Euro rose by Br190 up to Br22 306.
Meanwhile, US Dollar exchange rate fell by Br59 and reached its minimum for the last 113 days on May 3.
The former head of the National Bank of Belarus Stanislau Bahdankevich explained to Radio Racyja why Belarusian ruble has been strengthening recently and what we should expect further:
– I see that US Dollar has been falling not only against Belarusian ruble, but also against Euro and even the Ukrainian hryvnia has strengthened against the US currency. So this tendency relates not only to the national Belarusian currency. There are a lot of factors in Belarus that influence the situation. The main among them is deterioration of the economy. Real wages and pensions are reducing, costs are increasing, investments are falling... Business and people have no money to buy foreign currency. Previously, those who had the opportunity to save up the money, converted rubles into foreign currency, but now the situation is such that there is nothing to convert. Business experiences fall in revenues, not to mention the situation that common people face.
– Ruble has lost its position today, but what will happen to the national currency further?
– Given that the sowing campaign is underway in Belarus, a considerable amount of money in Belarusian rubles will be allocated to it. That’s why I think that no further strengthening of the Belarusian ruble should be expected.
– However, many analysts have directly linked the Belarusian ruble exchange rate with the changing of oil price. Oil price goes up - the ruble strengthens...
– Of course, there is an indirect dependency. But I have more trust in what the National Bank says. And it says that the currency exchange rate in our country is determined by supply and demand. This means that the demand for dollars is falling today. And I have already told why it has fallen. Due to the crisis in the economy and falling incomes a lot of people have money sufficient only to maintain the status quo and not to buy currency.
