In late November the Turkish lira exchange rate nosedived. The US dollar, which cost 8.5 Turkish liras in September, went up to 9.5 liras in early November and skyrocketed to 13.5 by the end of the month.
According to Radio “Azatlyk”, this has led to the reduction in the number of money transfers from Turkey to Turkmenistan.
Turkmen migrant workers in Turkey have warned their relatives in Turkmenistan that they will be unable to make money transfers because they do not have spare money.
According to a female resident of Mary, her family lived on $200-$300 a month, which her husband sent from Turkey. “It is difficult to find a job and a bribe needs to be paid when applying for a job. I don’t know how we are going to manage now.”- she says.
Meanwhile, on Ashgabat’s black market the dollar exchange rate which was quite stable in late October-early November (23 manats per US dollar) has been gradually increasing and, as of 28 November, was bought at 24 and sold at 24,5 manats.
Because it is impossible to make bank transfers or send money via specialized companies such as Western Union, Turkmen nationals use the services of the so-called cargo firms to send money or packages to Turkmenistan.
As has been reported, almost 120 thousand Turkmen nationals have residence permits and are registered in Turkey. Turkmen nationals are the second biggest community after Iraqi citizens who permanently reside in Turkey.
Turkey is one of the main destinations for Turkmen migrant workers because no entry visa is required.In addition, similar languages and ethnic proximity of the two nations play a major role.The post The collapse in the Turkish lira exchange rate leaves Turkmen migrants no money to send home first appeared on Chronicles of Turkmenistan.