DUSHANBE, May 7, 2011, Asia-Plus — Poulod Nasimov, a Dushanbe-based expert on the Tajik financial sector, considers that increase in the exchange rate of USD in Tajikistan is connected with ongoing sowing campaign.
“Sowing season begins in Tajikistan in April and runs through May and during this period, a large amount of currency is spent for purchasing fuels, seeds and fertilizers from abroad,” Nasimov told Asia-Plus in an interview.
According to him, Tajikistan is experiencing shortage of currency during this period every year. “All the country’s supplies are over during this period and imports are prevailing tangibly over exports during this time,” he said.
The expert noted that the situation usually became stable in June-July, when the country gathered the first harvests. “Prices for domestic products begin to fall and farm produce exports increase in June, promoting foreign currency receipts,” Nasimov stressed.
The expert, however, noted that Tajikistan ought to come to an agreement with Russia on cutting prices for oil products. “A sudden spike in gasoline prices will inevitably lead to increase in prices of basic food products and further increase in the exchange rate of the dollar against the national currency, the somoni.”
Nasimov has partially agreed with opinion of specialists from Tajik central bank, who attribute increase in the USD exchange rate also to the process of outflow of labor migrants. They say labor migrants take a large amount of foreign currencies with them that leads to shortage of foreign currencies in the domestic market and increase in their exchange rates.
