Belarusian national bank on Thursday announced to lower the country's official exchange rate of its currency, the ruble, versus the U.S. dollar by 7.5 percent.

The move was the second of the kind ever taken by the bank in a week.

The bank said the official exchange rate would be 13,760 Belarusian rubles per dollar starting Friday, comparing the current rate of 12,740 rubles for a dollar. The bank's key refinancing rate will be raised from 20 percent to 25 percent from the same day on.

The national bank also announced to scrap a tax policy requiring individuals to pay taxes on purchases of hard currencies, promising it would only step in to protect foreign exchange rates using its gold reserves at times of peak volatility. Endite

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