Turkmenistan to reorganize its banking sector
By Kamila Aliyeva
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov signed a decree on reorganization of certain banks in the country.
The Turkmen president gave concrete instructions to the head of the country’s Central Bank at a government meeting, the Turkmen government reported on July 10.
Also, a decree was signed on the transfer of rights and obligations on the loans, issued to a number of ministries, to the country’s state commercial bank Halkbank.
The Central Bank is the national bank of Turkmenistan. The Bank, established in 1991, regulates the country’s banking system and supervises the national financial policy.
The banking sector of Turkmenistan is dominated by six state banks specializing in particular economic sectors.
Turkmen Vnesheconombank specializes in the foreign trade and project finance, Dayhan Bank – in the agricultural sector, Turkmenbashi Bank – in extraction and heavy industry, transport, telecommunications, construction and retail trade, Turkmen Bank – in the public sector including education, health care, light industry, while Halkbank is responsible for pension payments and Prezidentbank – for real estate.
Other banks that serve commercial structures are also partly state-owned and subject to the broad state control that applies across Turkmenistan’s banking system.
A progress was made with strengthening the banking sector as the Turkmen government adopted a special programme to develop the banking system over the period 2010-30. A number of new laws were adopted including a Law on Accounting and Financial Reporting Standards (July 2010), new laws on the Central Bank and on Lending Institutions and Banking (March 2011) and a Law on Microfinance (April 2011).
In early 2015, the Central Bank of Turkmenistan set an official exchange rate of 3.50 manat for $1, which is still maintained. The previous exchange rate of 2.85 manat for $1 remained unchanged from 2008.
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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
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