17:03 - 11.03.2020

---

March 11, Fineko/abc.az. Currently, all banks have as much foreign currency as the population can buy.

Central Bank’s chairman Elman Rustamov said about that in an interview with journalists.

"The expansion of the coronavirus geography in the world, taking place in global economic processes - trade, economic growth, as well as estimates, forecasts and under their influence, in early March, there was a decline in oil prices. We are again traditionally talking about external shock. The fall in oil prices cannot create a significant problem in either trade or the country's balance of payments. This is the reaction of market participants, primarily the population that has cash manats on hand. That is, it is reaction to expectations.

The main job of the government and the Central Bank is to turn these expectations into positive expectations, and we are taking all measures for that. A currency auction was held on 10 March, and all demand was paid for. An extraordinary auction took place today, and all demand was paid for, but demand fell more than twice at the auction. Cash currency reserves have been created, and all bank claims during the day are fully paid for at the auction. Currently, banks have as much foreign currency as the population can get. Maybe some banks don't have the resources to get enough currency, in which case they will help each other. The volume of operations carried out by banks has increased almost 10 times," Rustamov said.

He said: "I call for calm to the population that converts the national currency into dollars. It is clear from the measures taken by the government and the Central Bank that we are fully prepared for this. The government and the Central Bank have a plan "B". This plan was prepared precisely for the oil price of 30-35 dollars. In fact, the government is acting on this plan. We intend to solve this problem quickly. Our appeal to the population is that their actions have helped us quickly solve this problem."