In a redomination of its currency, Belarus is cutting four zeroes off the face value of the ruble as the country, which is virtually a satellite of Russia, struggles with recession.
It’s the third redomination in the nation of 10 million since it became independent after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. The Belarusian ruble, which had traded at 20,000 to the dollar before the move, now stands at 2 rubles a dollar.
Belarus’s economy, which depends on neighboring Russia for cheap energy and subsidies, shrank 4 percent last year and is seen falling another 3 percent this year.
President Alexander Lukashenko’s authoritarian government has sought a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
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