A number of commercial banks in Uzbekistan increased the dollar exchange rate on Thursday, November 28. In some financial institutions, the selling price of the American currency reached 12,900 to 12,910 soums.
Among these are "Alokabank," "Asakabank," "Microcreditbank," the People's Bank, Infinbank, and Hamkorbank. Prices had last reached this level a week earlier when the exchange rate of the dollar hit a record high.
The current official rate from the Central Bank is 12,848.38 soums. The day before, it rose by 27 soums and 91 tiyin, marking the highest one-day increase since October 4.
The cheapest dollars are sold by Universalbank and Poytaxtbank (12,860 soums). The most favorable selling rates are offered by Apex Bank, Asia Alliance Bank, BRB, Mybank, the NBU, and "Trustbank" (12,820 soums).
Experts surveyed by Spot believe that the strengthening of the real exchange rate of the sum in the first half of the year was temporary. Among the factors supporting the national currency were the issuance of eurobonds, rising gold prices, and currency interventions by the Central Bank.
By the end of the year, analysts predict an acceleration of the national currency's depreciation due to an increase in the external trade deficit and a reduction in remittances. According to them, a rise in the dollar to 13,000 soums is not excluded.
Devaluation expectations are also growing among the population. According to Freedom Finance Global, in October, about 60% of Uzbeks anticipated a significant weakening of the sum within the year, while nearly 43% expected it in the near month.
Earlier, Spot reported that the official exchange rate of the ruble had fallen to a minimum over the past 15 months.