Several billions of dollars are confirmed to have been used by the Central Bank to prevent the som from “falling” 

In the first quarter of the current year, the Central Bank’s interventions in the domestic currency market amounted to $2.4 billion (equivalent to 26.8 trillion som), which is 19% more than in the last quarter of 2021.  This was stated in the "Interbank Money Market Review" published by the Central Bank.

It was noted that the increase in the number of interventions helped to mitigate possible fluctuations in the currency exchange rate in the face of external risks. The situation in the interbank money market, in January-February 2022 was formed due to the seasonal decline in total liquidity of the banking system and in March against the background of a significant decrease in the liquidity of the som due to increased demand for foreign currency and as a result of increased devaluation expectations of economic entities and changes in monetary conditions and operations in the second half of the month.

The ratio of the deposit operations of interbank money market to money-credit instruments increased from 30% at the end of 2021 to 42% in March. This is due to a slight decline in the liquidity of the Central Bank’s operations as a result of a decline in the overall liquidity. Interbank money market activity grew during the last quarter, which is 1.3 times more than in the fourth quarter of last year, totaling 27.7 trillion som.

In March, the money market activated, with a total of 12.5 trillion som of deposit transactions, which is due to an increase in the demand for cash liquidity due to increased purchases of foreign currency for clients by banks. Considering inflation rate, real interest rates in the money market were positive during the quarter, and the average real interest rate rose to 4.2% in March due to an increase in the Central bank's key interest rate, creating a “tight” monetary environment.

The bond balance of the central bank shrank from 14.6 trillion som at the end of January to 10.5 trillion som at the end of March, while the average daily deposit transactions of the overnight in March decreased by 34% compared to January.