Belarusian ruble

Description

The Belarusian ruble or rouble is the official currency of Belarus.

As a result of the breakup of the supply chain in the former Soviet enterprises, goods started to be bought and sold in the market, often requiring cash settlement. The Belarusian unit of the USSR State Bank had neither the capacity nor the licence to print Soviet banknotes, so the government decided to introduce its own national currency to ease the cash situation. The German word Thaler, divided into 100 Groschen was suggested as the name for a Belarusian currency, but the Communist majority in the Supreme Soviet of Belarus rejected the proposal and stuck to the word ruble that was usual for Belarus from the times of the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire.

From the collapse of the Soviet Union until May 1992, the Soviet ruble circulated in Belarus alongside 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.

In 2000, a new ruble was introduced (ISO 4217 code BYR), replacing the first at a rate of 1 BYR = 1,000 BYB. This was redenomination with three zeros removed. Only banknotes have been issued, with the only coins issued being commemoratives for collectors.

In July 2016, a new ruble was introduced (ISO 4217 code BYN), at a rate of 1 BYN = 10,000 BYR. Old and new rubles circulated in parallel from 1 July to 31 December 2016. Belarus also issued coins for general circulation for the first time. Seven denominations of banknotes (5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 rubles) and eight denominations of coins (1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 copecks, and 1 and 2 rubles) are in circulation on 1 July 2016. The banknotes have security threads and show 2009 as an issue date (the date of an unsuccessful attempt at currency reform). Their designs are similar to those of the euro.

Source: en.wikipedia.org