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Keeping its value: Pridnestrovie's own national currency, the PMR Ruble, is freely exchangeable with major foreign currencies

TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - A year ago, when Pridnestrovie was suffering after the first two months of economic blockade, outside observers predicted that the local economy would suffer runaway inflation and that the value of the local currency, the PMR Ruble, would come crashing down.

Today, nearly fourteen months after Moldova and Ukraine imposed crippling customs regulations on the border, outside observers are still "talking trash", but none of their predictions came through: Inflation is under control, and the PMR Ruble is stable.

The PMR Ruble, Pridnestrovie's national currency issued by the unrecognized country's Central Bank, currently trades at 8.37 PMR Rubles per US dollar. In other words, 1 PMR Ruble is equal to 12 cents US.
A year ago, the exchange rate was 8.32 PMR Rubles to the dollar: A variation of less than 1% in a year.

Part of that is due to overall US dollar weakness caused by the Bush invasion of Iraq. Against the Euro, the PMR Ruble lost more of its value, but with a variation of less than 11% on the year-on-year Euro exchange rate, the currency is still keeping pace with local inflation.
In Pridnestrovie, which is also known as Transnistria and Transdnestr internationally, inflation for 2006 came to 8.9%.

Internationally recognized Central Bank

Soon after independence in 1990, Pridnestrovie introduced its own currency: The PMR Ruble, abbreviated PRB. The nation's Central Bank issues both coins, known as Kopeks, and its own full Ruble bank notes.

The Pridnestrovian currency is convertible with US dollars, Euros, and other currencies at a freely floating exchange rates, updated throughout the day by the nation's major banks.

Coins in Pridnestrovie are known as Kopeks. There are 100 Kopeks to the Ruble. Pridnestrovian Kopek coins come in sizes from 1 to 50. Ruble bills come in sizes from 1 to 500.

The Central Bank of Pridnestrovie, Pridnestrovie's Republican Bank, is recognized internationally as a national central bank, on the legal basis of Article 3 of a 1997-Memorandum by Moldova, Pridnestrovie, Russia, the Ukraine, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in order to reaffirm their commitment to the principles of the UN and generally recognized norms of international law. The memorandum recognizes the republic's right to unilaterally establish and maintain international contacts in the economic sphere, among other areas of competence, thus reaffirming the republic's status as a sovereign in international law.

PMR's central bank is recognized at an official level by the Bank of England and other leading European bank centers. The Central Bank of Pridnestrovie is listed among 125 actively working global state financial establishments on London’s Center for Central Banking Studies website, CCBS at the Bank of England. Our Central Bank is independent from the Central Bank of Moldova and is listed independently.

The Central Bank maintains settlements accounts internationally and our country's currency is fully convertible. Exchange rates are posted daily by the Central Banks and by all major banks in the country.

Western Union is also active in Pridnestrovie, with remittances being paid out in local currency.

See also:
» New headquarters for Europe's newest Central Bank [1]