The US dollar exchange rate, set by the Central Bank, fell below 11,100 soum for the first time since mid-March. The national currency has been steadily strengthening over the past two months.
The Central Bank of Uzbekistan has set new rates of foreign currencies to the Uzbek sum since May 20.
The exchange rate of the US dollar sharply decreases by 42.37 soum to 11,088.2 soum, the euro by 71.2 soum to 11,642.61. The rouble is strengthening by 2.69 soum to a record 177.91 soum.
The dollar devalued below 11,100 soum for the first time since March 15, when the rate was at the level of 11,033 soum, after which the sum depreciated by 4.8% in three days to a record 11,571.99 soum. Since then, the soum has been steadily strengthening against foreign currencies against the backdrop of an increase in the main rate of the Central Bank to 17% and its maintenance, as well as foreign exchange interventions due to the export of gold.
On the Tashkent Currency Exchange on May 19, the trading volume amounted to $339.8 million, which may indicate the sale of a large amount of currency, which led to the strengthening of the soum. Over the past week, the volumes did not exceed $103 million.
The Central Bank has previously analyzed how the exchange rate affects prices. A change in the exchange rate can affect inflation directly due to changes in prices for imported final products, and also indirectly due to changes in prices for imported raw materials. A devaluation of the exchange rate by 1 percentage point in the long term accelerates core inflation by 0.28 percentage points, the regulator said in a review.
Reported by Gazeta (Uzbekistan).
