Azerbaijani manat was devalued for a third in a day

Azerbaijani manat was devalued for a third in a day. The Central Bank of Azerbaijan established the official manat exchange rate with respect to the dollar on February 21 at the level of 1.05 manat/$ 1 against 0.7862 manat/$ 1 on February 20, the Central Bank reported.

"This decision was made in order to stimulate the diversification of the economy of Azerbaijan, strengthen the international competitiveness of the economy and export potential, and ensure the stability of the payment balance," the report said.

The manat course in relation to the Russian ruble on February 21 is set at 0.0170AZN/1RUR against 0.0127AZN/1RUR on February 20.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Board of the TsBA Elman Rustamov, in an interview with The Financial Times, noted that the Central Bank refuses to bind the national vecuration rate - Manata to the dollar and gradually proceeds to a more flexible course policy. At the same time, he emphasized that any weakening of the currency will be gradual, and the Central Bank will "take into account the interests of the population."

The Central Bank, according to him, moves away from the binding of manat to the dollar in favor of targeting a basket from the dollar and the euro, where the share of the euro will be 20-30%.

Rustamov notes the lack of fundamental reasons for a long weakening of the manat course. “There are no fundamental reasons and grounds for chronic and prolonged weakening of manat. There is no reason for concern. No dramatic devaluation of manat is expected,” he said on the air of the AzTV state television channel.

At the same time, he did not clarify how much the Central Bank could devalue manat.