DUSHANBE, February 4, 2013, Asia-Plus  -- Introduction of one- and two-diram coins into circulation is an illogical decision, Ismoil Talbakov, a deputy of Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament, told Asia-Plus in an interview.

“Any coin released into circulation should cover all costs associated with production of it but the one- and two-diram coins will fail to cover these expenses,” MP Talbakov noted.

“Moreover, it is well known that nothing can be bought for one or two dirams, and therefore, it is unknown what may introduction of these coins into circulation mean,” Talbakov stressed.

We will recall that the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) has introduced the coins in two denominations 1 diram and 2 diram into circulation.

An official source at Tajik central bank says the coins were minted at the Kazakhstan Mint of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the new coins came into circulation on February 1.

According to him, the NBT has planned to introduce an additional amount of one- and two-diram coins into circulation long ago because shops and stalls are experiencing shortage of coins of these denominations.  “A small amount of one and two-diram coins was put into circulation in 2001, 2006 and 2011,” the NBT source said.