DUSHANBE, February 8, 2016, Asia-Plus – The National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) denies information that Russian money transfer systems have stopped the transfer of the Russian rubles (RR) to Tajikistan.
The Tajik central bank press center reports that all Russia’s money transfer systems, including Zolotaya Korona, operate as before and transfer rubles to Tajikistan.
On February 5, senior representatives of Tajik central bank reportedly had telephone conversation with Russian financial authorities and it turned out that all Russian money transfer systems operate as before transferring rubles to Tajikistan.
We will recall that offices of Zolotaya Korona and Leader, which are the most popular Russian systems for transferring money among Tajik senders, last Friday confirmed the information that Russian money transfer systems have reportedly refused to transfer Russian rubles to Tajikistan.
“Since Tajikistan introduced certain restrictions on February 2, Russian money transfer systems have stopped the transfer of the Russian ruble (RR) to Tajikistan,” representatives of these money transfer systems told Asia-Plus on February 5.
New rules that came into effect on February 2 obliged people in Tajikistan receiving transfers made in rubles to collect the funds exclusively in the domestic currency, the somoni.
Russian money transfer systems have reportedly reacted by stopping the transfer of rubles to Tajikistan, and accepting only other currencies, such as dollar or euros.
The ruble ban reportedly came into effect on February 4.
In effect, this arrangement requires Tajik workers in Russia to first convert their ruble salaries into a foreign currency, thereby incurring a commission, and then sending that cash home, also against payment.
The NBT press center says new rules obliging people in Tajikistan receiving transfers made in rubles to collect the funds exclusively in the somoni are aimed at supporting the national currency.
According to Tajik central bank, the new rules apply only the RR remittances that are made without opening a bank account.
The NBT also notes that the new rules do not apply to remittances made in other foreign currencies.
Meanwhile, expert note that the fall in the value of the ruble against the dollar has been slower than that of the somoni since the beginning of the year. The ruble has reportedly lost 5 percent of its value against the dollar over that period, while the somoni has fallen by around 13 percent.
