The National Bank of Kyrgyzstan has sold 207 million dollars through interventions on the currency market. A sale of that size points to pressure on the som, with demand for foreign currency running ahead of what the market itself can supply. Central banks resort to interventions like this to smooth sharp swings in the exchange rate rather than to pin the currency to a fixed level. For importers and ordinary savers, the bank's readiness to sell dollars matters because it keeps the exchange rate from lurching between trading days. Intervention totals are watched closely in Bishkek, since they show how much heavy lifting the bank is doing to steady the currency. The bank has moved in both directions over recent years, buying dollars at times of surplus and selling when pressure on the som builds. Whether more sales become necessary will depend on how demand for foreign currency behaves in the weeks ahead.