Kazakhstan's Tenge Strengthens Against Dollar

The tenge strengthened by 1.3% in January, reaching 518.2 tenge per dollar, while trading activity on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) saw a slight decline, Orda.kz reports.

Trading volumes on KASE decreased to 227 million dollars daily from the previous 254 million, with total monthly transactions reaching 4.5 billion dollars.

The National Fund sold 850 million dollars during January, accounting for 19% of total trading volume, or about 43 million dollars per day.

These funds were directed toward the republican budget and constructing the Taldykorgan-Usharal gas pipeline.

In February, the government anticipates National Fund currency sales between 550-650 million dollars.

 Meanwhile, the National Bank has implemented a new mirroring mechanism, selling dollars received from domestic gold mining companies in the local market. Through this process, the Bank managed the circulation of 244 billion tenge in January, with similar volumes expected in February.

The National Bank confirmed it did not purchase dollars for its pension asset portfolio in January and has no plans to do so in February.

In the short term, the dynamics of the tenge will depend on the expectations of market participants, quarterly tax payments, the situation on world markets and changes in the geopolitical situation. The National Bank will continue to adhere to the flexible exchange rate regime, which eliminates the accumulation of imbalances and ensures the safety of gold and foreign exchange reserves, the regulator's press service noted.

Original Author: Artem Volkov