DUSHANBE, October 26, 2015, Asia-Plus – The Tajik national currency, the somoni (TJS), lost 30 percent of its value against the dollar (USD) in a year to September 30, 2015, Tajik Finance Minister Abdusalom Qurboniyon announced at a the parliamentary hearings in Dushanbe on October 26.

Presided over by first deputy speaker of Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament, Abdujabbor Azizi, the parliamentary hearings were carried out to discuss implementation of the national budget for 2015 over the first nine months of this year.

We will recall that over the firs the three months  of this year alone, TJS has fallen 14.5 percent against USD as remittances from Russia slow.  Tajik central bank in April ordered  the immediate closure of private currency exchange offices.  The National Bank cited the need to assure the “stability” of Tajikistan’s currency market and the somoni exchange rate and “the protection of the interests of clients of credit organizations.”

Tajik central bank was spending between $1.5 million and $3 million per day in March to prop up the somoni.  The National Bank also introduced tighter regulations for hard-currency purchases on April 17, ordering banks to collect identification details of people buying greenbacks.

Speaking at the hearings, Qurboniyon also noted that the country’s foreign trade turnover over the first nine months of this year have declined 17.9 percent compared to the same period last year and population’s real incomes have declined 1.7 percent.

In January-September this year, 10.2 billion somoni have been spent for development the national economy and 3.5 billion somoni have been spent for bring the country out of the transport deadlock, the minister noted.

As of October 1, 2015, Tajikistan’s external debt amounted to 2.1 billion U.S. dollars, which is equal to 19.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), the minister added.