Press releases

MINSK, 24 December (BelTA) – The currency codes were defined for the Belarusian ruble after the redenomination, BelTA learned from the information and public relations department of Belarus’ National Bank.

“On 18 December the ISO 4217 maintenance agency "Codes for the representation of currencies and funds" issued ISO 4217 Amendment No. 155 to define new currency codes for the redenominated Belarusian ruble. The country’s alphabetic code is BYN where BY is ISO3166 code and N is the first letter of the English word “new” and the digital currency code is 933,” experts clarified.

The International Standards Organization (ISO) 4217 Currency Code standard establishes three-letter alphabetic codes and three-digit numeric codes, which are used, for example, in the documents and reports of international transactions. The codes are also used in the banking and commercial activities, where it is appropriate to call the currency in coded or abbreviated form and clearly identify it. This is due to the fact that different currencies may have the same names like the U.S. dollar, Canadian dollar and Australian dollar.

The decision to redenominate the Belarusian ruble as from 1 July 2016 is laid down by Belarus president decree No. 450 of 4 November 2015. As part of the redenomination process the existing banknotes, which are dated by 2000, will be replaced with bank notes and coins dated by 2009 at a ratio of 10,000 to 1. From 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2016 monetary units of the 2000 design and monetary units of the 2009 design will be used simultaneously and will be accepted in kinds of payments without restriction in the abovementioned ratio. Banknotes designed in 2000 can be exchanged for banknotes designed in 2009 without restrictions and additional fees in the period from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2019 at the National Bank, banks and non-bank credit and financial institutions of the Republic of Belarus. During the period from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2021 they can be exchanged at the National Bank.

The redenomination is a technical process and will not affect the purchasing power of the Belarusian ruble, the exchange rate of the national currency against foreign currencies, and the rate of inflation, the National Bank said.