Azerbaijani Central Bank Chairman Elman Rustamov suggested on October 13 that Azerbaijan may move to a floating exchange rate,
RFE/RL
reported.
“The manat’s rate is being determined by the global price of oil, as well as budgetary and currency policies of partner nations,” Rustamov said, adding that the central bank’s foreign reserves stand at $7 billion, which is less than half the amount they were last year.
In August, Kazakhstan introduced a floating exchange rate for its currency. Since then, the tenger has lost 30% of its value against the US dollar, according to RFE/RL.
According to a recent report prepared by the ISET for Meydan TV, the recent oilprice drop not only decreased Azerbaijani exports and government revenues (which declined by 15.4% in the first 6 months of 2015 relative to 2014), but directly impacted Azerbaijan’s national currency, the value of which had been until then fixed to the US dollar.
