Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The Uzbek soum has weakened against the US dollar. As of 27 March 2025, the US dollar is trading at 12,900 soums. Over the past week, the soum’s exchange rate has declined by 0.11%. For the local currency, this movement is within the average range for the year. A week earlier, the soum had strengthened by the same 0.11%.

It is likely that the soum’s depreciation was influenced by the halt in the Russian ruble’s rally. There is a strong correlation between the soum and the ruble due to the trade and economic ties between Russia and Uzbekistan. This week, the ruble mostly weakened, as investors and banks failed to see any geopolitical developments from Saudi Arabia. Market participants had seriously counted on diplomatic efforts to ease tensions between Russia and the West yielding quick results, but that did not materialize.

A week ago, the Central Bank of Uzbekistan raised the interest rate to 14% per annum, increasing it by 50 basis points. The last time the rate was this high was eight months ago.

The regulator is likely responding to domestic inflation and taking precautionary measures while global central banks maintain high interest rates.

Next week, the USD/UZS pair is expected to remain within the traded range of 12,850–12,950 soums.

Anna Bodrova, Analyst at Alpari