DUSHANBE, April 21, 2011, Asia-Plus — Tajikistan’s gold and currency reserves rose 79.6 percent in a year to April 1, 2011, reaching 700 million U.S. dollars, Sharif Rahimzoda, the head of the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT), told reporters in Dushanbe today.
According to him, major part of the country’s gold and currency reserves, 60 percent (in an amount of some 400 million U.S. dollars), is kept in foreign banks. “In Tajikistan, we keep some 300 million U.S. dollars,” the central bank head noted, adding that those funds are in constant circulation.
Rahimzoda noted that over the report period, they have bought 234 kilograms of gold in the domestic market. “Besides, we have bought and sold some 2 tons of gold in the external market,” the central bank head said.
On the country’s money supply (the total amount of money available in the economy), Rahimzoda said that as of April 1, 2011, Tajikistan’s money supply stood at 2.8 billion somoni, or 28.5 percent increase compared to April 1, 2010.
In January-March this year, 190.2 million somoni of new banknotes have been put into circulation and 100 million somoni of dilapidated banknotes have been immobilized.
Rahimzoda added that the national currency, the somoni, has fallen 1.4 percent against the dollar over the same three-month period.
