The
ruble (, Gen. plural: рублёў) is the
currency of
Belarus. The symbol for the ruble is
Br and the
ISO 4217 code is
BYR.
History
First ruble, 1992–2000
The breakup of supply chain in the former Soviet enterprises demanded that goods be bought and sold on the market, often requiring cash settlement. The Belarusian unit of the USSR State Bank did not have capacity nor the license to print Soviet banknotes, hence the government decided to introduce their own national currency to ease up the situation with cash.From the collapse of the Soviet Union until May 1992, the
Soviet ruble circulated in Belarus alongside with the Belarusian ruble. New
Russian banknotes also circulated in Belarus but they were replaced by notes issued by the
National Bank of the Republic of Belarus in May 1992. The first post-Soviet Belarusian ruble was assigned the ISO code
BYB and replaced the Soviet currency at the rate of 1 Belarusian ruble = 10 Soviet rubles. It took about two years before the ruble became the official currency of the country.
Second ruble, 2000-
In 2000, a second ruble was introduced (ISO code
BYR), replacing the first at a rate of 1 new ruble = 1000 old rublei. This was
redenomination with 3 zeros chopped off. Only banknotes have been issued, with the only coins issued being commemoratives for collectors.
Monetary integration with...
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