Discovery Channel Magazine: Deepest Man
5 June, 2010IFR Asia: Garuda hits the road
20 June, 2010Euromoney, Front End, June 2010
The Asian Development Bank took its annual meeting to Central Asia last month, as its many officials made the tricky trek from Manila to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. There was plenty to talk about: Greece’s impact on emerging markets, asset bubbles in Asia, and the wholesale boycott of the meeting by NGOs on the grounds of Uzbekistan’s human rights record. But one subject dominated delegate conversation: how thick is your brick?
It’s a money thing. Uzbekistan’s currency, the som, only comes in denominations up to 1,000, which is roughly equal to 65 US cents. Delegates prudently changing US$100 into local cash were confronted with a som wad more than an inch thick. Those who thought ahead and changed US$200 just in case found themselves without any combination of pockets able to accommodate their wealth.
And so, in taxis and bars around Tashkent, the refrain was always the same: “how much of a brick have you got left?” Volunteering to pay for taxis and drink became widespread as delegates sought to reduce the sheer weight and bulk of their hoard.
It’s not as if Tahkent is particularly cheap. So paying for an entire meal became an exercise in old-fashioned, note-tallying bank telling. “Shut up! You made me lose count!” a banker was heard to remark to a distracting colleague while trying to settle a bill. “I was up to 97!”
And there was a twist in the tale for those planning to use their remaining soms on duty free booze on the way out. It turns out that Uzbekistan has, magnificently, banned the use of its own currency at its national airport. Since it also can’t be changed into any other currency, we suspect a number of delegates’ children found themselves receiving a gift of some funny-looking toy money.
