National Bank Injects $125 Million to Stabilize the Tenge

To curb the sharp weakening of the tenge, the National Bank of Kazakhstan intervened in the foreign exchange market, spending $125.6 million. The figure was disclosed in the Bank’s currency market report, Orda.kz reports.

According to the National Bank, the tenge depreciated by 4% against the US dollar in July, settling at 540.72. Currency trading volume on KASE reached $5.7 billion for the month.

Last month, the state sold $700 million from the National Fund to help cover budget shortfalls and finance the Taldykorgan–Usharal gas pipeline project. A further $400–500 million is expected to be sold in August. Another 290 billion tenge will also be sold under the so-called mirroring mechanism.

On July 30, amid extremely low market liquidity and mounting speculative pressure, the National Bank conducted currency interventions totaling $125.6 million. These measures helped contain speculation and restore the necessary level of liquidity. stated the National Bank.

In July, the Bank also purchased $35 million on behalf of the Unified Accumulative Pension Fund (ENPF). However, no further purchases are planned in August, as ENPF’s current foreign currency holdings have already surpassed the targeted 40% threshold at prevailing exchange rates.

Just a day after the Bank’s intervention announcement, the dollar exchange rate dropped to 540.72 tenge, easing from its previous climb past the 550 mark during July 30 trading.

Original Author: Nikita Drobny