US-dollar rate in Azerbaijan to stabilize at level of 1.70 AZN

Baku. 19 May. REPORT.AZ/ The official and cash dollar exchange rate in Azerbaijan will stabilize at 1.70 AZN/USD.

Analytical Group of Report News Agency says that although the rate in cash foreign exchange market was lower than the official during last month, now this difference has been eliminated. At the leading banks for purchase and sale of cash currency - Amrahbank and Gunaybank, US-dollar purchase is at 1.6970, sell for 1.7070 AZN. Notably, the dollar purchase rate is 0.005 manat lower and sale is above by 0.005 AZN than official rate. In other words, in cash currency market, exchange rate has reached an optimal level.

Analytical Group of Report News Agency believes that maintaining an average price of oil at $ 50/bbl will ensure the stability of US-dollar. At present, fate of dollar depends on the outcome of negotiations on debt restructuring with the creditors of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), which will be held on May 23 in London. Presumably, a positive outcome of the talks for Azerbaijan will be the exchange of obligations for government bonds and their prolongation for a longer time. In this case, a threat to dollar in the domestic market will be eliminated.

Stabilization of US-dollar will lead to a gradual increase in the volume of lending and de-dollarization of deposits. However, this process can take a long time. It is also worth noting that the stability of dollar in domestic market is achieved through sterilization of excessive manat supply. This, in turn, causes serious damage to economic growth. At present, the task of the Central Bank is to restore economic growth by optimizing volume of supply in manat.