After trading at a single session on the Belarusian Currency and Stock Exchange (BCSE), which took place in the morning on January 4, the Belarusian ruble fell against the dollar and the euro. The rate for January 5, was set at Br8.400 per dollar and Br10.950 per euro. There was no bidding on the Russian ruble.
The previous trading resulted in Br8.350 per dollar and Br10.850 per euro. Thus, the Belarusian ruble fell by 0.6% and 0.9% against the foreign currencies, respectively.
During the bidding on the BCSE, there was a significant increase in the number of those willing to buy dollars. Based on preliminary applications, the demand volume was raised to $112.6 million. At the auction on January 3 this figure was equal to $24.6 million.
The supply volume on January 4 was $106.1 million.
Demand for the euro also exceeded its supply, leading to the weakening of the ruble.
At the same time, not all bidders were able to acquire the necessary amount of the euro. The volume of transactions was formed at the level of €54.8 million. This amount was 2.3 times greater than during the auction on January 3.
Russian ruble trades on the exchange will commence only after January 9 after the Christmas holidays.
Head of the National Bank of Nadezhda Ermakova predicts that the dollar rate will amount to Br8-8.5 thousand in the first quarter of 2012. At the same time chairman of the National Bank called too pessimistic her previous statements with regard to the dollar rate.
According to the earlier calculations of the National Bank, the average dollar exchange rate would be about Br9.150 in 2012.
