In the past, foreign companies doing business in Turkmenistan had difficulty converting the national currency into hard currency. Some companies could not even receive manat coverage for a transaction made in Turkmenistan because of a shortage of both local and hard currency. Now, all barter transactions are controlled by the Cabinet of Ministers. In 1997, the foreign exchange rate became single and unified at 5,300 manat against the dollar and was stable until July 1998. At that time, a gap began to develop between the official rate and the black market rate, which peaked at 19,000 manat per dollar in April 1999 and has been fluctuating between 14,000 and 15,000 manat in July.
All domestic trade is done in manat.
Foreign companies may convert the manat into hard currency through their commercial banks. There are certain criteria that are taken into consideration when the Central Bank provides foreign exchange through its Interbank Currency Exchange to meet the commercial banks' needs in hard currency. The Central Bank licenses foreign exchange operations by commercial banks and guarantees the security of foreign investors' deposits, stocks, securities and other payment documents kept in commercial banks. The Central Bank extends credits in manat to the government and banks, and in manat and foreign currency to non-budget ministries and state enterprises. Most of these credits are interest free.