Currency exchange offices in Bishkek will be required to maintain a minimum of 5 million KGS in working capital

Kyrgyzstan is tightening requirements for currency exchange offices. The Board of the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan has established new minimum working capital requirements for currency exchange offices, additional exchange points, and seasonal exchange offices.

The relevant resolution was adopted on May 13. The new rules will take effect on June 1 of this year.

For newly opened currency exchange offices, the requirements will be as follows:

• 3 million KGS — for currency exchange offices outside Bishkek and Osh;
• 5 million KGS — for currency exchange offices in Bishkek and Osh;
• 1 million KGS — for seasonal currency exchange offices regardless of location.

For existing currency exchange offices, the regulator has provided for a phased increase in requirements.

Thus, currency exchange offices outside Bishkek and Osh will be required to maintain:

• at least 1 million KGS—by October 1, 2026;
• at least 2 million KGS by October 1, 2028;
• at least 3 million KGS by October 1, 2030.

For currency exchange offices in Bishkek and Osh, the threshold will be higher:

• at least 2 million KGS by October 1, 2026;
• at least 3 million KGS by October 1, 2028;
• at least 5 million KGS by October 1, 2030.

Seasonal currency exchange bureaus will be required to increase their working capital to 1 million KGS by October 1, 2026.

According to the National Bank’s registry, as of May 13, there were 889 currency exchange offices operating in Kyrgyzstan. At the same time, more than half of the market is effectively concentrated in the capital—457 exchange offices were operating in Bishkek alone. Thus, it is the capital’s segment that will feel the regulator’s new requirements most acutely.