Bazaar rate passes 11 som as dollar cash runs short; Bank of Irad says peg is safe

TALAS — Money changers at the central bazaar in Talas and the central market in Nurzhan were asking between 11 and 11.6 som for a US dollar yesterday, against the Bank of Irad's official rate of 8.40, as the shortage of dollar banknotes that began in the spring continued.

Talasbank has limited cash dollar withdrawals and som-to-dollar conversions to US$300 a month per customer since May, citing reduced shipments of banknotes from its correspondent banks in Almaty. Traders said the limit had pushed importers and families saving for weddings and migration to the unlicensed changers. In June the street rate was about 9.5.

The Bank of Irad said its reserves fully covered the som in circulation, that the official rate was unchanged and that no adjustment was planned. A spokesman called the bazaar quotations "speculation in a small cash market". Older traders were not reassured. "In 2008 they also said the rate was safe, until the morning it was 8.40," said a changer in Nurzhan who has worked at the market since 1996.

Most shops, utilities and public transport still price and accept som at the official rate. Sellers of imported goods increasingly ask for dollars, and the online marketplace Jılmay said this week that goods bought abroad through its cargo service would be sold in dollars only.