DUSHANBE, July 22, 2015, Asia-Plus -- The Tajik national currency, the somoni (TJS), has reportedly lost 19.6 percent of its values against the dollar (USD) since the beginning of the year.

According to the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT), the market rate fell from 5.46 somoni to US$1.00 on January 1 to 6.53 somoni to US$1.00.

Meanwhile, the official rate has fallen 18 percent over the same six-month period - from 5.3074 somoni to US$1.00 on January 1 to 6.2602 on June 30.

Experts from Tajik central bank attribute the somoni depreciation to, first of all, “increase in exchange pressure that was observed in the country in the second half of 2014.”     

The NBT head Jamshed Nourmahmadzoda notes that “some speculators” who wanted to use that tendency in their own interest have facilitated the sharp devaluation of the Tajik national currency.

“When the NBT team was renewed, a couple of people engaged in illegal currency circulation were spreading various rumors.  They wanted to take advantage of the uncertainty that existed in the country’s currency market that time but they failed to gain their point,” Nourmahmadzoda told reporters in Dushanbe on July 21.

According to him, Tajik central bank has not conducted any currency interventions in order to stabilize the somoni exchange rate.  “We have preserved our currency reserves,” Tajik central bank head noted.