The Tajik national currency, the somoni (TJS), is continuing to devaluate against the dollar (USD).
Currency-exchange points in Dushanbe have stopped selling U.S. dollars as the national Tajik currency, the somoni, has fallen in value recently against the dollar.
The somoni has fallen from 11.50 to the dollar to 11.80 (nearly 3-percent decline) in the grew market over the past week.
Meanwhile, the official exchange rate of the somoni against the dollar set by the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) remains practically unchanged – 11.34:1.
Last year, the somoni lost 6.7 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar at the National Bank rate. In 2020, the somoni fell from 10.3 to the dollar to 11.3.
The NBT specialists attribute devaluation of the Tajik national currency against the dollar to impact of global and regional economic and financial processes, a negative trade balance, decline in remittances and decrease in supply in the country’s currency market.
Tajikistan has mainly resorted to “administrative resources” to keep the currency on an even keel.
In December 2015, the National Bank ordered the closure of all unauthorized currency exchange points in the city. After that, only banks were able to perform foreign exchange operations. Anybody found violating this new arrangement could face jail terms of up to nine years. Also, banks are forbidden by law from selling somoni at more than 1.5 percent the rate established by the National Bank.
