Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 5
By Emin Aliyev - Trend:
A fall in the exchange rate of the manat is a temporary phenomenon, the Baku Interbank Currency Exchange (BBVB) told Trend on Feb. 4.
The exchange rate of the manat compared to the U.S. dollar fell to 0.7830 AZN / USD during the trading in the currency section of the exchange on Jan. 31. Its value had been 0.7835 AZN / USD since last September. Thus, the rate of the manat fell to its historic minimum, while the official rate set by the Central Bank of Azerbaijan is 0.7843 AZN / USD.
"A fall in the exchange rate is no more than one of the fluctuations," a representative of the exchange said. "This does not reflect any adverse events in the economy as there were not any and does not envisage any negative outlook."
"The exchange rate fluctuations are normal," the representative added. "They are caused by a general decline in activity and rates at the stock exchange. It should be stressed that the downward trend has been observed on the market for several years."
For comparison: as of early 2013, the exchange rate of the manat compared to the U.S. dollar was 0.7856 AZN / USD, in 2012 - 0.7857 AZN / USD and in 2011 - 0.7967 AZN / USD.
The turnover of the country's exchange currency market as of 2013 amounted to 435.3 million manat which is 1.7 times less than in 2012.
BBVB was established in July 1993 at the initiative of the National Bank of Azerbaijan (now the country's central bank) and the largest state-owned banks- Savings Bank, Industrial-Investment and Agro-Industrial Bank (now merged into Kapital Bank). The regular trading on the exchange started in August 1994.
Translated by NH
Edited by CN