Azerbaijan halts or limits currency sales amid manat devaluationAugust 22, 2016 - 12:48 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan is in the grip of a fresh currency crisis. Dollar sales in the Azeri capital have all but seized up as demand from households still reeling after two devaluations last year leaves most banks running on empty, with the manat plunging the most globally against the U.S. currency on Friday, August 19, Bloomberg reports. The biggest lenders visited across downtown Baku on Friday and Saturday either stopped sales completely, without giving a reason, or limited transactions to $100 to $500 per person. Drowned out by the din of customers clamoring to buy dollars, a cashier at Demir Bank on the capital’s central Nizami Street said the lender -- which has capped individual sales at $100 -- had trouble keeping up. “The sale of foreign exchange is something banks themselves decide,” Rufat Abbasov, an aide to the head of the Financial Markets Supervisory Authority, the banking regulator, said by phone. “We can’t interfere.” The run on the manat reflects Azerbaijan’s failure to restore people’s confidence and risks snowballing into more pressure on banks, which already endured a frenzy on the foreign-exchange market last year as savers fled deposits in the national currency. The share of dollar savings is now at almost 80 percent of the total, according to S&P Global Ratings. After losing more than half its value against the dollar in 2015 in the biggest drop worldwide, the manat is down more than 7 percent this year, the second-worst performer among its ex-Soviet peers after the Tajik currency. It plunged 2.5 percent to 1.6825 against the dollar in Baku on Friday, before rebounding 2.8 percent to 1.6366 by 11:04 a.m. in Baku on Monday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Biden honors resilience of Armenian people on April 24 U.S. President Joe Biden has issued a statement on the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Ex-Karabakh leader moved to solitary confinement cell in Baku, his son says David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. Macron says France commemorates 109th anniv. of Armenian genocide Today France commemorates the 109th anniversary of the Armenian genocide of 1915, Macron says. Freedom House concerned by mounting reports of police violence in Armenia Freedom House urged Armenian authorities to investigate this pattern of excessive force and inhumane treatment. |