What is the currency in Central Asia?
Each country in Central Asia has its own separate currency. Turkmenistan has the Manat (TMM), Uzbekistan has the Som (UZS), Kazakhstan's currency is the Tenge (KZT), in Kyrgyzstan it's also called Som (KGS), but is a completely separate currency to the Uzbek Som, and Tajikistan has the Somoni (TJS).
In the past few years, money has quite quickly become much easier to deal with in Central Asia than it was a decade ago. In the early 2010s there were very ATMs anywhere in Central Asia, even in the more developed cities of Almaty and Bishkek. Foreign exchange was generally a somewhat difficult and unpredictable aspect of travelling to this part of the world.
What was money like in the 5 Stans a few years ago?
Those who travelled in Central Asia in the mid 2010s (2015 or so) would have experienced relative ease in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan (in major cities anyway), with some places accepting card payments, not exactly plenty, but enough ATMs accepting foreign cards, plenty of foreign exchange shops with good rates, and no black market to deal with. Kyrgyzstan has had a relatively stable currency for a long time, but Kazakhstan did go through a brief economic crisis in late 2015/early 2016. Aside from that few months though, Kazakhstan has also had a relatively stable currency.
At that point Tajikistan wasn't too bad, although ATMs and card payments were still very few and far between, and there was a black market, so it wasn't completely straight forward, but it was easy enough to navigate as long as you were prepared.
Uzbekistan at that point was a nightmare though. The black market was somewhere around 5-10 times the official rate and the largest note was worth around $0.20. Even a bottle of coke or a somsa would be paid for in a bundle of notes and wallets were completely useless - you needed a bag for your cash, and no bank cards worked for anything. Because of all this, it also make it incredibly difficult for any sort of foreign businesses or even non-profit organisations to do anything in Uzbekistan, which of course in turn exacerbates the problem.
However, Turkmenistan had an incredibly stable currency at this point, with the TMM being pegged to the USD at a rate of $1 = 3.5.
Then what?
Then come 2017 and things changed drastically in both Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Uzbekistan's black market was eradicated by the official rate gradually meeting the black market rate, whilst the artificial pegging of the TMM eventually backfired and a black market began emerging there. By 2018-2019 the Uzbek Som was basically completely stable (floating like any normal currency) and the TMM black market was out of control.
And how about now?
Now when you're preparing for a 5 Stans trip, you can rely on being able to use cards for payments or to withdraw cash from ATMs in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan , without any issues really. Any major city or town in either country will have plenty of options on both those fronts. However, when travelling outside of major cities (especially in Kyrgyzstan), you will need to be prepared with cash - but that's fine, assuming that you start in a city or town that you can get cash in. Read more about money in these countries in our Kyrgyzstan money guide and Kazakhstan money guide .
Tajikistan isn't far behind, though ATMs which accept foreign cards are a bit harder to come by. There are plenty of exchange shops though, and many shops and restaurants in major cities and towns will accept card payments. (There is technically a black market, however the difference in rate between that and the official rate is so small that it's really not worth it.) You can read more about that in our Tajikistan money guide .
Uzbekistan is catching up with the western world very quickly on this front, however the financial infrastructure is still just a bit lacking. There are plenty of ATMs now that will accept foreign cards, however they still all have fees and mostly have very small withdrawal limits. Many places in major cities and towns will accept card payment, though it's also very common for their machines to be malfunctioning, and almost all card payments come with a fee. So although it won't be long until you don't need to worry about cash in Uzbekistan, for the moment it's still best not to rely on cards and make sure you have at least some of the money you'll need in foreign currency to be exchanged. Find out more about Uzbekistan's currency in our Uzbekistan money guide .
And then Turkmenistan is a whole other story.
The short version is that you must have all your required money in USD cash when travelling to Turkmenistan. There are no ATMs or card payments at all. Read more about it in our Turkmenistan money guide .
