The process of smooth depreciation of the Tajik currency against the US dollar continued in the second decade of the current month.
According to the official rate of the National Bank of Tajikistan, from February 10 to today (February 21) the somoni has fallen in price against the dollar by almost 3% – from 10.38 somoni to 10.68 somoni (for $1).
Since January 1 of the current year, the Tajik currency has depreciated against the dollar by 4.7%.
The somoni also depreciated against two other reserve currencies of the world – the euro and the yuan, which since 2022 have been included in the structure of the gold and foreign exchange reserves of Tajikistan.
The US dollar, euro, Japanese yen and pound sterling are currently recognized as world reserve currencies. Sometimes the Chinese yuan, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar and Australian dollar are added to this list. Until 1999, instead of the euro, the German mark and the French franc were the reserve currencies.
Since January 1 of this year, the official exchange rate of the somoni against the common European currency has decreased by 4.5% (from 10.92 somoni to 11.41 somoni per 1 euro), and the yuan – by 4.7% (from 1.49 somoni to 1.56 somoni for 1 yuan).
Meanwhile, the Russian ruble, after a slight depreciation against the Tajik currency during the first ten days of February, returned to its January positions.
Every 1000 rubles on January 1 was exchanged for 144.2 somoni, on February 10 – for 142 somoni, and today – for 144.8 somoni.
It should be noted that last year the Tajik currency strengthened in an uncharacteristic way against all these currencies.
Thus, the official exchange rate of the somoni increased by 9.4% against the dollar, by 14.8% against the euro, by 16.2% against the yuan, and by 3.7% against the ruble.
The most popular foreign currency in Tajikistan has traditionally been the US dollar.
However, as a result of the transition of Tajikistan and Russia in bilateral trade in 2022 from the dollar to the ruble, the demand for the American currency in the republic has significantly decreased.
There is no shortage of the ruble in the foreign exchange market of Tajikistan, as was the case with the dollar, since the Russian currency enters the republic in large volumes through remittances from labor migrants.
Since 2016, transfers in rubles, unlike transfers in the other above-mentioned currencies, have been issued to recipients in Tajikistan exclusively in local currency with conversion at the time of receipt.
In this regard, the higher the ruble exchange rate, the more somoni the families of labor migrants will receive and vice versa.
Source : Asia Plus Jt
