DUSHANBE, December 2, 2015, Asia-Plus — The National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) is expected to bring more than 1 million yuan to the country’s cash market within the next few days in order to support the national currency, the somoni.
Speaking at the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) session, the NBT head Jamshed Nourmuhammadzoda noted on December 2 that this measure will help stabilize the rate of the national currency against the dollar.
“This measure will allow entrepreneurs engaged in importing Chinese goods into Tajikistan to exchange the national currency for the Chinese currency without any problems,” Nourmuhammadzoda said.
According to him, there was panic in the last days of November as the currency exchange points were hiking rates and profiting from market instability.
Tajik central bank head noted that the somoni has fallen 26.7 percent against the dollar over the first eleven months of this year as a result of crisis in the main economic partners of Tajikistan and decrease in inflows of labor migrants’ remittances.
The somoni’s depreciation has reportedly led to increase in prices of basic food products and medicines.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that China”s currency, the yuan, will join the fund”s basket of reserve currencies.
Currently just the US dollar, the euro, the yen and the pound are in the group.
The IMF said the yuan “met all existing criteria”” and should become part of the basket in October 2016.
The yuan will now make up part of the IMF”s Special Drawing Rights (SDR) – an asset created by the IMF which serves almost as a currency.
China is the world”s second largest economy behind the US and asked for the yuan to become a reserve currency last year.
