The Central Bank of Uzbekistan has devalued the national currency by 48%. Ilgiz Baymuratov’s comment for Gazeta.ru

The government liberalized the currency purchase, which jeopardizes activities of moneychangers. The local Central Bank devalued the amount twofold. According to political experts, “Uzbekistan had no other way out”.

Ilgiz Baymuratov

Deputy General Director of FinExpertiza

- The Uzbekistan President’s decision on devaluation of the national currency is in line with the country’s liberalization program of the monetary policy. According to the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, the government’s regulation of currency exchange was too excessive. Such a strict policy resulted in lower competitiveness of national goods and services and poorer investment attractiveness of the republic. For many years official currency exchange rates had been considerably higher than those on the black market. One of the goals of the liberalization is to transfer the business fr om the shadow economy to the formal economy. The Uzbekistan President’s measures are revolutionary: in particular, they propose cancellation of the requirement on mandatary sale of the foreign currency gain by exporters and the national exchange rate determination based on the market balance of supply and demand. It is possible that, if the measures are implemented, the black market of forex transactions in this country will liquidate itself over time. With no doubt, liberalization of the foreign exchange market will improve the region’s investment attractiveness and provide support to local producers.