Euro Dropped to Its Lowest Level since 2005

Turnover of non-cash foreign exchange transactions in July 2012 amounted to the equivalent of AZN 2,674 million ($ 3.4 billion), a decrease of 16.6% on the month. Only in 7 months of this year, foreign exchange turnover amounted to 17.9 billion manat. Compared to the same period last year, it increased 35.6%.

In this July, the U.S. dollar lost the dominant position in the market. The share of trade with it was 34.1%. Share of the operations with the Russian ruble rose to 36.6%, while the share of the euro made up 6.6% of the market.

The volume of cash transactions in U.S. dollars in July was $ 914 million. That is $ 161 million or 15% lower than in June. During the reported month the volume of purchases of the currency fell by half. Compared to the same period in 2011, in January-July this year, the total turnover of cash exchange operations with the U.S. currency rose by $ 2,735 million or 68.8% to $ 6,709 million.

The volume of cash transactions with euros for seven months in 2012 amounted to EUR 1,154 million (units of the currency), which is 48.7 percent more than last year. The volume of purchases of the currency by the population fell by 34.1 percent in July.

The total turnover of cash exchange operations in January-July this year, with the Russian ruble and the British pound sterling was equal to 4,867 million and 15.2 million, respectively.

The average exchange rate of cash dollar to manat remained unchanged in July, making 0.7861 manat per 1 USD, and for the past 12 months was down by 10 points. The average exchange rate of the euro against the manat fell in the reported month to 0.9704 manats per 1 euro, which thus dropped to its lowest level since 2005. - 15B -