OREANDA-NEWS. On 11 January 2008 was announced, that the Belarusian ruble appreciated against the basket of currencies of Belarus’ main trade partners 16.72% in real terms in January-November 2008, according to the National Bank of Belarus (NBB).

The Belarusian ruble appreciated against the Russian ruble 11.63% in the period, against the Ukrainian hryvna 12.99%, against the euro 27.18%, and against the U.S. dollar 11.68%.

Against the Latvian lat the Belarusian ruble gained 18.49%, against the Lithuanian litas 18.86%, against the British pound sterling 43.65%, and against the Kazakh tenge 2.79%.

The ruble rose against many currencies owing to the peg to the U.S. dollar, which strengthened significantly in September and October. But the ruble also appreciated against the dollar, and inflation in the U.S. is to “blame”: consumer prices in the U.S. decreased 1.7%, while in Belarus they rose 1.4%.

The appreciation of the ruble is a major obstacle to exports, specialists believe, while cheaper imports are more welcome, which could affect the economic expansion.

Experts warn that amid the global worsening of terms of trade and chronic foreign trade deficit logged in Belarus, further appreciation of the national currency is not recommended.

Starting May 1, 2004 all countries, whose share in Belarus’ trade turnover is above 1%, are considered Belarus’ trade partners. Earlier, only currencies of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and Poland were included in the basket of currencies.