12 February 2014 | 14:58

Kazakhstan's central bank sets tenge exchange rate to 163.9 per $1, but no second-tier banks bother

Screen shot ©nationalbank.kz

Kazakhstan's central bank has set the today's tenge exchange rate to 163.9 tenge per dollar, however none of the country's commercial banks or exchange offices bother to follow suit, Tengrinews reports. Yesterday, on February 11, 2014, the governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan Kairat Kelimbetov announced a devaluation of tenge away from the previous rate of 155 tenge per dollar to the new weighted average of 185 tenge per dollar in one step. “The National Bank expects that the new exchange rate will be at around 185 tenge per US Dollar,” Kairat Kelimbetov said adding that the central bank will be supporting the nation currency and keeping it within the range of 182-188 tenge. Besides, he ordered the commercial banks and exchange office of Kazakhstan not to exceed the margin of 2 tenge in their dollar selling and buying rates and 3 tenge margin for Euro, and threatened them with severe sanctions if they don't comply. The exchange margin is the amount that a bank or an exchange office adds on to the interbank exchange rate when they quote a client. As we can see from the today's rates, they do comply with the margin requirement, but completely ignore the rates determined by the central bank for the day. The official website of the National Bank of Kazakhstan gives the following weighted average exchange rate for February 12: 163.9 tenge per dollar and 224.07 tenge per Euro. Weighted average exchange rate is calculated as a weighted average of the exchange rates that prevailed during the specific period of time, where the weights are based on the authorities’ estimates of the shares of transactions conducted at various exchange rates. Here are the exchange rates of the leading Kazakhstani banks as of February 12, 10:40 a.m.: BTA bank US Dollar: Buying rate - 184 tenge, Selling rate - 186 tenge. Euro: Buying rate – 250.85 tenge, Selling rate – 253.85 tenge. Halyk Bank US Dollar: Buying rate - 182.01 tenge, Selling rate - 183.99 tenge. Euro: Buying rate - 247.8 tenge, Selling rate - 250.7 tenge. Alliance Bank US Dollar: Buying rate – 182.5 tenge, Selling rate - 188.9 tenge. Euro: Buying rate – 249.37 tenge, Selling rate - 259.52 tenge. Sberbank US Dollar: Buying rate - 183 tenge, Selling rate - 185 tenge. Euro: Buying rate - 250.5 tenge, Selling rate - 253.5 tenge. Temir Bank US Dollar: Buying rate - 183.5 tenge, Selling rate - 185.5 tenge. Euro: Buying rate - 250.3 tenge, Selling rate - 253.3 tenge. Kazkommertsbank US Dollar: Buying rate – 182.85 tenge, Selling rate – 188.15 tenge. Euro: Buying rate – 248.34 tenge Selling rate – 258.99 tenge Bank CenterCredit US Dollar: Buying rate - 183 tenge, Selling rate - 185 tenge. Euro: Buying rate - 250.00 tenge, Selling rate - 253 tenge. Eurasian Bank US Dollar: Buying rate – 182.95 tenge, Selling rate – 184.85 tenge. Euro: Buying rate - 249.5 tenge, Selling rate - 252.4 tenge.

Kazakhstan's central bank has set the today's tenge exchange rate to 163.9 tenge per dollar, however none of the country's commercial banks or exchange offices bother to follow suit, Tengrinews reports. Yesterday, on February 11, 2014, the governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan Kairat Kelimbetov announced a devaluation of tenge away from the previous rate of 155 tenge per dollar to the new weighted average of 185 tenge per dollar in one step. “The National Bank expects that the new exchange rate will be at around 185 tenge per US Dollar,” Kairat Kelimbetov said adding that the central bank will be supporting the nation currency and keeping it within the range of 182-188 tenge. Besides, he ordered the commercial banks and exchange office of Kazakhstan not to exceed the margin of 2 tenge in their dollar selling and buying rates and 3 tenge margin for Euro, and threatened them with severe sanctions if they don't comply. The exchange margin is the amount that a bank or an exchange office adds on to the interbank exchange rate when they quote a client. As we can see from the today's rates, they do comply with the margin requirement, but completely ignore the rates determined by the central bank for the day. The official website of the National Bank of Kazakhstan gives the following weighted average exchange rate for February 12: 163.9 tenge per dollar and 224.07 tenge per Euro. Weighted average exchange rate is calculated as a weighted average of the exchange rates that prevailed during the specific period of time, where the weights are based on the authorities’ estimates of the shares of transactions conducted at various exchange rates. Here are the exchange rates of the leading Kazakhstani banks as of February 12, 10:40 a.m.: BTA bank US Dollar: Buying rate - 184 tenge, Selling rate - 186 tenge. Euro: Buying rate – 250.85 tenge, Selling rate – 253.85 tenge. Halyk Bank US Dollar: Buying rate - 182.01 tenge, Selling rate - 183.99 tenge. Euro: Buying rate - 247.8 tenge, Selling rate - 250.7 tenge. Alliance Bank US Dollar: Buying rate – 182.5 tenge, Selling rate - 188.9 tenge. Euro: Buying rate – 249.37 tenge, Selling rate - 259.52 tenge. Sberbank US Dollar: Buying rate - 183 tenge, Selling rate - 185 tenge. Euro: Buying rate - 250.5 tenge, Selling rate - 253.5 tenge. Temir Bank US Dollar: Buying rate - 183.5 tenge, Selling rate - 185.5 tenge. Euro: Buying rate - 250.3 tenge, Selling rate - 253.3 tenge. Kazkommertsbank US Dollar: Buying rate – 182.85 tenge, Selling rate – 188.15 tenge. Euro: Buying rate – 248.34 tenge Selling rate – 258.99 tenge Bank CenterCredit US Dollar: Buying rate - 183 tenge, Selling rate - 185 tenge. Euro: Buying rate - 250.00 tenge, Selling rate - 253 tenge. Eurasian Bank US Dollar: Buying rate – 182.95 tenge, Selling rate – 184.85 tenge. Euro: Buying rate - 249.5 tenge, Selling rate - 252.4 tenge.

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