Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko announced plans Tuesday to devalue the currency for the second time since May after the state's failure to fill a yawning budget deficit. Lukashenko said the local ruble would be traded freely at special trading sessions for the currency that determine the official exchange rate beginning some time between September 12 and 15.
"The exchange rate will be determined by supply and demand, just like for any other good," the Belta state news agency quoted Lukashenko as saying. "We do not intend to artificially support the price," he said. "Anyone who wants to buy foreign currency - the people are practically crying about it, especially in Minsk - will have the opportunity to do so."
The veteran leader failed to specify how the government planned to deal with the expected run on currency exchanges in the interim. The gap between the state rate of 5,035 rubles to the dollar and the 9,800 rubles used by tour operators and private vendors is the widest in months.
Similar currency pressures prompted the authoritarian leadership to devalue the ruble by 36 percent in May in the heat of the country's worst economic crisis since the Soviet era. Lukashenko then vowed to fix the country's finances by the summer and has also appealed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for up to $8.5 billion in assistance.
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