Published
07/19/2026, 17:02The National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic sold $1.47 billion on the foreign exchange market, which is already almost double the volume of interventions for the whole of 2025 — $853 million.
The regulator stated that these foreign exchange interventions are not an attempt to manage the som’s exchange rate. Their aim is to smooth out a temporary shortage of foreign currency in the domestic market and to maintain the stable functioning of the financial system.
According to the National Bank, the main reason for the increase in interventions was the expansion of Kyrgyzstan’s economy.
The country’s GDP is set to rise from 782.9 billion soms in 2021 to 1.98 trillion soms in 2025, whilst investment in fixed capital is set to more than triple, reaching 374.6 billion soms.
Demand for foreign currency is particularly high in the summer, when construction and infrastructure projects pick up. Businesses require foreign currency to purchase equipment, building materials, fuel, medicines and other imported goods.
Despite the rise in dollar sales, the National Bank asserts that the country’s international reserves remain at a sufficient level. Currently, net foreign exchange sales amount to around 17 per cent of international reserves, whereas in 2021 this figure stood at 24.4 per cent, and in 2023 at 25.6 per cent.
The regulator emphasised that Kyrgyzstan operates a floating exchange rate regime: the som’s exchange rate is determined by the market, and the National Bank intervenes in the foreign exchange market only in the event of a temporary imbalance between supply and demand.
