Tajikistan reveals cause of currency depreciation
By Aynur Karimova
Tajikistan has revealed the reason standing behind the depreciation of the national currency, the somoni, against the U.S. dollar.
The National Bank of the country said that the sonomi’s depreciation is due to parallel drops in the Russian ruble and the Kazakh tenge.
The bank reported that on August 21, the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar was set at 6.54-6.56 somoni at exchange offices of the country and 6.77-6.79 somoni in the black market.
Bank experts also believe that another primary reason for the depreciation is the unstable situation in world oil markets and fluctuating oil prices.
Currently, most exchange offices in the capital Dushanbe refrain from selling dollars, claiming that it would further draw from use of the national currency. Buying dollars is possible only at a higher rate from foreign currency speculators.
China, the world’s second-largest economy, recently devalued the yuan by 4.6 percent, sending a shock to global financial markets. Despite the fact that China's decision is viewed as an attempt to boost exports by making its goods cheaper abroad and to become one of the reserve currencies in the International Monetary Fund’s special drawing rights group, the yuan's depreciation put financial markets on edge, sparking worries of a “currency war” as other countries feel pressure to also devalue their currencies.
The weighted average rate of tenge fell to 255.26 tenge per dollar from 188.38 tenge for the first trades on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange on August 19. Then on the following day, Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov announced that Kazakhstan had launched a new monetary policy based on a free-floating tenge and canceled the currency corridor.
The Russian ruble has weakened against the euro and the dollar as a result of the recent decrease in the price of oil. A few days ago, the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar was 66 rubles, while one euro amounted to 74 rubles. This was the ruble’s worst showing since the beginning of the year.
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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova
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