Debt—external: $1.03 billion (1998 est.)
Economic aid—recipient: $194.3 million (1995)
Currency: Belarusian rubel (BR)
Exchange rates: Belarusian rubels per US$1—139,000 (25 January 1999 official Belarusian exchange rate), 46,080 (2nd qtr 1998), 25,964 (1997), 15,500 (yearend 1996), 11,500 (yearend 1995), 10,600 (yearend 1994)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones: 2.55 million (October 1998)
Telephone system: the Ministry of Telecommunications controls all
telecommunications through its carrier (a joint stock company)
Beltelcom which is a monopoly
domestic: local—Minsk has a digital metropolitan network and a
cellular NMT-450 network; waiting lists for telephones are long;
local service outside Minsk is neglected and poor; intercity—Belarus
has a partly developed fiber-optic backbone system presently serving
at least 13 major cities (1998); Belarus's fiber optics form
synchronous digital hierarchy rings through other countries'
systems; an inadequate analog system remains operational
international: Belarus is a member of the Trans-European Line (TEL),
Trans-Asia-Europe Fiber-Optic Line (TAE) and has access to the
Trans-Siberia Line (TSL); three fiber-optic segments provide
connectivity to Latvia, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine; worldwide
service is available to Belarus due to this infrastructure;
additional analog lines to Russia; Intelsat, Eutelsat and
Intersputnik earth stations
Radio broadcast stations: AM 28, FM 37, shortwave 11
Radios: 3.17 million (1991 est.)