SEPT. 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kyrgyz som lost 5.4% of its value on Sept. 1 falling to 66 som to $1, the biggest fall by any currency in Central Asia and the South Caucasus over the past week and the lowest value for the som against the US dollar for at least a decade.

This was also the som’s biggest one-day loss since March 2014. The Kyrgyz government, like the rest of Central Asia, has been battling to defend its currency against a sharp fall in the value of the Russian rouble, still the main driver of regional economic growth.

It’s unclear what pressured the Kyrgyz som to fall so severely but a few days earlier the head of the Central Bank Tolkunbek Abdygulov had said that the currency had dropped by 10.3% in 2015 despite the the government spending nearly $180m to protect its value.

“The National Bank will have enough reserves to avoid sharp fluctuations in the exchange rate of the som. Now the situation on the market is stable. There are no reasons for anxiety and panic,” media quoted Mr Abdygulov as saying on Aug. 25.

His statement and the subsequent fall in the value of the som suggest that the Kyrgyz Central Bank may be struggling to maintain its value.

Across the border in Kazakhstan, the Kazakh tenge has been stable at a level of 242/$1 during the past week, down from the a high of 252/$1 in August. The Kazakh Central Bank’s decision to adopt a new benchmark interest rate policy on Sept. 2, did not appear to have a significant impact on the exchange rate.

Elsewhere in Central Asia, the Tajik somoni and the Uzbek sum remained substantially unchanged. Currencies in the South Caucasus kept their against the US dollar throughout the week, fluctuating by just 1%.