Editing Economy of Turkmenistan (section)

== History ==
From 1998 to 2005, Turkmenistan suffered from a lack of adequate export routes for natural gas and from obligations on extensive short-term external debt. At the same time, however, total exports rose by an average of roughly 15% per year from 2003 to 2008, largely because of higher international oil and gas prices.{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}} As in the Soviet era, [[economic planning|central planning]] and state control is prominent in the system, and the Niyazov government (in power 1991–2006) consistently rejected market reform programs.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=February 2007|title=Country Profile: Turkmenistan|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Turkmenistan.pdf|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130311113115/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Turkmenistan.pdf|archive-date=11 March 2013|publisher=[[Federal Research Division]], [[Library of Congress]]|postscript=. {{PD-notice}}}}</ref> The state subsidized a wide variety of commodities and services from the early 1990s to 2019.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.rferl.org/a/turkmenistan-cuts-last-vestiges-of-program-for-free-utilities/29511308.html| title = Turkmenistan Cuts Last Vestiges Of Program For Free Utilities| newspaper = Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty| date = 26 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Lines, price rises and expensive booze – the cost of happiness in Turkmenistan {{!}} Eurasianet|url=https://eurasianet.org/lines-price-rises-and-expensive-booze-the-cost-of-happiness-in-turkmenistan|access-date=2020-11-03|website=eurasianet.org|language=en}}</ref> Following his election in 2007, President [[Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow]] unified the country's dual currency [[exchange rate]], ordered the redenomination of the manat, reduced state subsidies for gasoline, and initiated development of a special tourism zone ([[Awaza]]) on the [[Caspian Sea]].

Since 2009, Turkmenistan has maintained a fixed exchange rate. In that year, the rate was set at [[United States dollar|US$]]1 to 2.85 [[Turkmenistani manat|manats]].<ref name=kurs>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbt.tm/ru/archive.html|title=Archive / Currency exchange rates|publisher=Central Bank of Turkmenistan|language=Russian, Turkmen, English}}</ref>  On 1 January 2015, the official exchange rate was changed to US$1 to 3.50 manats.<ref name=kurs /><ref name="cia.gov" /><ref name=invclimate /> However, the black-market exchange rate as of February 2021 was fluctuating around 29 to 30 manats to the dollar.<ref name=hron1>{{cite news|url=https://www.hronikatm.com/2021/02/exchange-rate-56/|title=Курс доллара на "черном рынке" на 21 февраля|date=21 February 2021|language=Russian|publisher=Chronicles of Turkmenistan}}</ref> As of mid-April, the black-market manat-dollar exchange rate had slid to 40 manat to the dollar.<ref name=hronika70>{{cite news|url=https://www.hronikatm.com/2021/04/exchange-rate-70/|title=1 доллар – 40 манатов|date=8 April 2021 |language=Russian|publisher=Chronicles of Turkmenistan}}</ref><ref name=hronika71>{{cite news|url=https://www.hronikatm.com/2021/04/exchange-rate-71/ |title=Курс доллара на "черном рынке" на 11 апреля |date=11 April 2021 |language=Russian|publisher=Chronicles of Turkmenistan}}</ref>