Page 50 - bne_Magazine_April_2018

50 I Eurasia bne April 2018
Turkmen banks suspend operations of locally issued Visa cards amid sparse hard currency
Kanat Shaku in Almaty
Turkmen banks have entirely suspended operations of locally issued Visa cards both inside
and outside Turkmenistan, Radio Azatlyk, the Turkmen service of RFE/ RL, reported on February 25. The only money transfers currently allowed
in the country are limited to parents whose children are studying abroad – specifically, MoneyGram and Western Union money transfer services still allow Turkmen parents to send their children no more than $300 at a time.
The Turkmen authorities are attempting to keep hard currency circulating within the remote and tightly controlled Central Asian country amid an economic downturn caused by low world hydrocarbon
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prices as well as failed energy deals that have left the hydrocarbon export- dependent Turkmenistan with China as its sole export destination for gas.
As locals were barred from access to con- verting the manat to foreign currency at the official rate, they started transfer- ring money from their local cards to Visa
“The only money transfers currently allowed in the country are limited to parents whose children are studying abroad”
Yet even China has been ramping down imports from the Central Asian nation recently – exports of natural gas to China declined 14% y/y in January. The resulting economic troubles have hurt the Turkmen state budget, with government revenues depleted.
cards and then cashing the Visa cards abroad, since such bank card transac- tions are carried out at the official rate. The authorities initially adopted a policy restricting such transfers by setting a monthly limit of $500. However, that measure only sufficed for a couple of