Minsk - Belarus will unhook its currency from the Russian
rouble to tie it to the US dollar, the Interfax news agency reported
on Wednesday.
The former Soviet republic will cease using the Russian currency
as the index currency for its own Belarusian rouble as of 2008, the
report said, citing a planning document from the Belarusian National
Bank (BNB).
Indexing the Belarusian rouble to the US dollar will help stabilise
the Belarusian currency, and help Belarus increase its international
trade, the BNB planning paper predicted.
The BNB will use monetary tactics to maintain the official
exchange rate of the dollar to the rouble within a 5 per cent range
of the market rate, according to the report. The BNB currently
enforces the same bracket, based on the price of the Russian rouble.
The BNB at the same time will cease maintaining meaningful
reserves of Russian roubles - a calculated snub at the Kremlin, which
for years has pushed for use of the Russian rouble as a common
currency for trade between former Soviet republics.
The Belarusian move if put into effect could improve the presently
poor reputation of the Belarusian currency, referred to derisively by
most Belarusians as 'zaichiki', a insulting term meaning 'little
rabbits' or 'public transportation cheats.'
The Belarusian rouble is almost impossible to sell for a foreign
currency anywhere except inside the country. For most of the 1990s
the Belarusian rouble was printed in quantity without any monetary
planning at all, sparking hyper-inflation.
The Belarusian decision to reject the Russian rouble is more
evidence of deteriorating relations between the Kremlin and Minsk,
who have had a falling out over energy prices since December.
Aleksander Lukashenko, Belarus' authoritarian leader, in the early
years of his rule promised voters that his government sought eventual
reunion with Russia.
Lukashenko in the wake of the energy crisis, leaving Belarus with
the price of energy imported from Russia tripled overnight, has
turned away from the policy, saying Belarus will live on its own
without Russian assistance.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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