DUSHANBE, February 4, 2016, Asia-Plus — The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (MEDT) reportedly supports the decision to give out the Russian ruble (RR) remittances in the somoni (TJS).
Tajik banks will able to earn on average 5.6 million U.S. dollars per year from giving out the Russian ruble remittances in the somoni, First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Saidrahmon Nazriyev, told Asia-Plus in an interview.
According to him, local banks will be able to earn 5.6 million U.S. dollars per year proceedings from the current average exchange rate of the Russian ruble against the somoni, which is 1:1.06, and the volume of the last year’s remittances sent to the country in the Russian rubles (RR 133 billion).
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Umed Davlatzod, considers that the decision give out the Russian ruble remittances in the somoni is “very timely measure.”
“This measure is the first step towards decrease in dollarization in the country,” Davlatzod noted.
We will recall that the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) has announced that starting from February 2, remittances that are sent to local banks in Tajikistan in the Russian rubles are given out in the somoni.
Tajik central bank reportedly issued this order for local lending agencies for the purpose of supporting the national currency, the somoni.
Meanwhile, an official source at the NBT has noted that the order does not apply to remittances made in other foreign currency.
“The RR remittances will be given out in the somoni if they are made without opening a bank account,” the source added.
On Thursday February 4, an official exchange rate of the Russian ruble against the somoni was 1:0.104.
About 333,000 Tajiks are currently banned from going to Russia because of various legal issues.
Remittances for the January-September period in 2015 dropped about 65 percent to $1.054 billion, compared to $3.016 billion over the same period the previous year.
Economists are warning that conditions could worsen in 2016.
