DUSHANBE, January 20, 2015, Asia-Plus — In a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, Abdujabbor Shirinov, the head of the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT), revealed on January 20 that the national currency, the somoni, last year lost 11.2 percent of its value against the dollar.
“In 2014, Tajik central bank allocated 137 million U.S. dollars and 984 million somoni to prop up the national currency against the dollar,” Shirinov said.
He attributed the fall in the value of the somoni to “the tense geopolitical situations in the region and slow economic growth in the countries, which are major trading partners of Tajikistan.”
According to him, fluctuations in Tajikistan’s currency market will continue until the international crude oil prices stabilize and the economic situation in Russia stabilizes accordingly.
“Some international experts forecast that the crude oil prices will stabilize during the first half-year of 2015,” Shirinov said.
Meanwhile, some experts consider that drop in the Russian ruble value can lead to political unrest in some countries relying remittances.
The Guardian
quoted Daniil Kislov, who runs fergana.ru, as saying that if oil continues falling and the Russian ruble continues falling, then migrant workers will begin to return home. “Essentially Russia has saved Uzbekistan and Tajikistan from revolution, and if all migrants return it will cause a social explosion. Not today, but may be in a year, or two, or five.”
