National Bank’s Vice Governor assures the tenge will remain stable for years to come

The exchange rate of the Kazakh national currency, the tenge, won’t be changing in the years to come, Newskaz.ru reports, citing the National Bank’s Vice Governor Bissengali Tadjiyakov as saying June 12. “For the recent three years the tenge exchange rate [since the devaluation in 2009] has been stable and it will be stable further on (…)”, Mr. Tadjiyakov said before the country’s Majilis (lower chamber), adding that “the exchange rate is favorable for exporters”, KazTag quotes him as saying. He elaborated that “for the recent year the nation’s exports potential has grown 40%”. “You know that the oil price stands at $99 per barrel, whereas the estimated price in the budget is $80 per barrel; thus, there is nothing to be afraid of”, he said. “The Central Bank of Russia believes that relatively high volatility of the Russian rouble is right for the national economy at the current stage. In the last three years the currency volatility in Russia has been at around 20%, whereas in Kazakhstan the volatility indicator has been 2%. The Kazakh Central Bank is not ready to change its policy. We do believe the stable currency exchange rate is beneficial for the economy (…) There is no reason to implement Russia’s practices in Kazakhstan”, Tengrinews.kz reported June 7, citing the National Bank’s Governor Gregory Marchenko. According to Mr. Marchenko, “We have renounced currency corridors. We don’t say the exchange rate should stand at KZT 148 per USD 1. We move along with the market. We try to prevent rumors from exerting unnecessary impact on the exchange rate”.