DUSHANBE, February 10, 2016, Asia-Plus – Tajikistan is expected to toughen punishment for illegal hard-currency exchange operations.

A regular sitting of Tajikistan’s lower house (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament that is being held today is considering amendments proposed by the government to the country’s penal code.

The amendments, in particular, provide for introducing jail terms of up to nine years for illegal hard-currency exchange operations.

We will recall that in a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, The head of Tajikistan''s National Bank noted on January 26 that any hard-currency exchange operations outside of banks and official financial institutions are illegal.

According to him, the move''s aim is to curb illegal speculation with hard currency that led to the abrupt devaluation of the Tajik national currency, the somoni.

In December, Tajik central bank reportedly suspected operations at all money exchanges points, citing speculation, leaving only banks the right to perform the transaction.  Anybody carrying out unauthorized currency exchanges could face stiff penalties, the central bank said.

Today, parliamentarians will also discuss amendments proposed to the country’s criminal procedure code, customs code and the law on security.