Starting from March 3, Uzbek banks have begun buying and selling the rouble at their exchange offices, reported the financier Otabek Bakirov.
According to the Central Bank, in the backdrop of sharp fluctuations in the exchange rate of the Russian rouble and significant differences between the exchange and over-the-counter rates, citizens of Uzbekistan in Russia are losing money in the process of converting their funds into free currency.
In this regard, the regulator recommended that all banks conduct uninterrupted exchange operations for money transfers in roubles and maintain an “acceptable buy and sale difference” when determining the exchange rate.
To minimize currency risks, banks were given recommendations on changing the buy and sale rates of the Russian rouble during the day in line with current international quotations.
“This will allow Uzbeks to send money to the Russian Federation in Russian roubles and receive these funds in Uzbekistan in any currency,” the Central Bank said.
The Central Bank said that it is monitoring the current situation and, if necessary, will take additional measures to ensure the interests of the population and the stability of the national currency and the banking system.
The reaction of economists
Financier Otabek Bakirov warned that if a "narrow purchase and sale administrative corridor", for example, ± 1%, is applied, then "the rouble will enter Uzbekistan in wagons, and the dollar will be leave Uzbekistan by wagons."
“No one is against the purchase and sale of roubles, but this should not be an obligation. This process should take into account the rules of the open market, the fact that the conversion of the rouble is limited from day to day, and risks are falling on him in size uphill,” he said.
At the time of publication, the Russian currency was trading in the range of 97-102 soums per rouble. Otabek Bakirov calculated that if you bring a rouble from Russia and convert it into soums, and then buy a dollar, then 1 dollar will drop to 112.78 roubles.
“For comparison, in Moscow exchange offices 1 dollar is sold for 130-160 roubles. The rate, which is administratively formed on the Moscow Exchange, is not determined by the market at all. All conditions have been created so that Russians can bring their savings to Uzbekistan and convert them into dollars,” he said.
Economist Behzod Khoshimov said that "putting the rouble and the soum in one basket is tantamount to shifting all the risks in roubles to the soum."
“I’ve said it a thousand times already: you need to let the market regulate this. If the Uzbeks want it, let them buy it, if they don’t want it, they should not,” he said.
