DUSHANBE, April 21, 2015, Asia-Plus – An article by Joanna Lillis entitled “Tajikistan Struggles to Defend Sinking Currency” that was posted on the Eurasianet.org website on April 18 notes that the national currency, the somoni, has fallen 14.5 percent against the dollar this year as remittances from Russia slow.
We will recall that Tajik central bank has ordered closure of private currency-exchange points, a move that suggests Dushanbe is concerned about the somoni’s sharp depreciation.
The article, in particular, says that the blanket ban on private exchange offices means more than half of the country’s exchange offices – 818 out of a total 1,581 – are being shuttered, leaving 763 operating.
“In dollar terms, remittances sent to Tajikistan from Russia declined by 7.6 percent in 2014 year on year, according to data recently released by Russia’s Central Bank. Remittances are likely to continue to drop this year amid ongoing economic turmoil in Russia.
“This is bad news for the world’s most remittance-dependent country. The World Bank estimates remittances total the equivalent of 42 percent of Tajikistan’s GDP. Over a million Tajiks, or roughly half of working-age males, labor in Russia.
“In March, the National Bank accused some private exchange offices – which people routinely use as they are more convenient than banks – of “speculation,” as the gap between the National Bank exchange rate and those in private offices widened.
“The National Bank also introduced tighter regulations for hard-currency purchases on April 17, ordering banks to collect identification details of people buying greenbacks.”
