DUSHANBE, February 4, 2009, Asia-Plus — The national currency exchange rate will continue to fall until the government thoroughly analyzes the situation in the financial sector and takes real measures to maintain the somoni’s exchange rate, economist Poulod Nasimov told Asia-Plus today.
“The country’s currency reserves have considerably decreased and now need financial injections,” said Nasimov, “Tajikistan ought to seek support of international financial institutions in order to hold exchange rates steady.”
Besides, it is necessary to take measures to ensure that our labor migrants continue working abroad, especially in Russia, because labor migrant’s remittances represent the country’s major source of foreign currency receipts, the expert noted.
“The government should reach agreement on this subject directly with governors of Russia’s regions. The point is that the number of workplaces within Russia’s construction sector has decreased, while Russian regions need manpower for working in the agrarian sector and our migrants could work there,” the economist stressed.
He noted that it was also necessary to negotiate the labor migration issue with the Arab countries as well. “The government could negotiate the labor migration issue with Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia,” said Nasimov, “Guest workers from India, Bangladesh and Nepal now successfully work in the construction sector of the mentioned countries, while in Russia, Tajik labor migrants mainly worked in the construction sector and gained construction experience.”
