The Russian ruble slid more than 10 percent against the Tajik national currency, the somoni, following a coronavirus-triggered oil price collapse.
The market exchange rate of the Russian ruble (RR) against the somoni (TJS) dropped from 1:0.145 last week to 1:0.130 this week.
However, an official RR/TJS exchange rate set by the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) still remains unchanged – 1:0.1413
On March 9, while Russian markets were closed following International Women’s Day, the value of the ruble on the online exchange Forex plummeted, leaving the Russian currency at 75 per dollar and 85 per euro. When the Moscow Exchange closed on Friday, it only took 68 rubles to buy a dollar and 80 to buy a euro.
The ruble’s rapid depreciation was caused by a collapse in oil prices Monday morning: The cost of oil fell by 25 percent, the largest single-day change in the 21st century so far.
Official exchange rates of the somoni against the dollar and the euro have also remained unchanged – 9.68:1 and 10.9558:1 respectively.
Tajik central bank considers the local somoni currency undervalued and sees no grounds for its depreciation.
Jamoliddin Nouraliyev, the first deputy head of the NBT, noted last month that the bank considers the current exchange rate sustainable.
According to hi, they have all the economic calculations and grounds for the current exchange rate.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Tajikistan’s current account deficit to widen to 5.2% of gross domestic product this year, from last year’s estimated 4.5%.
