Central Bank Governor Gregory Marchenko. © Yaroslav Radlovsky
Rumors of the national currency devaluation have been growing popular with common people, tengrinews.kz reports, citing the country’s Central Bank Governor Gregory Marchenko as saying. “There is another wave of rumors and speculations. Following the devaluation back in February 2009, there have been 19 such waves. The spring time was quiet, with no such rumors around. Perhaps people have got bored. Unfortunately, in our country such rumors is a way to entertain oneself”, the banker said. According to him, people who spread the rumor of the Tenge devaluation tend to think the following way: “Life is calm in Kazakhstan. But now we belong to the Customs Union [with Russia and Belarus]. The Russian rouble is devaluing, so devaluation of the Tenge is inevitable; prices for oil also tend to fall once in while”. Mr. Marchenko calls to have a sober look at the situation: “When it comes to oil prices, they did fall in spring, but there were no rumor of devaluation. Now the price for oil stands at $108-109 per barrel. We are content with the price as the country’s current budget relies on the price of $90”. As far as the FX market is concerned, “the situation is calm. A week ago there were rumors of the US Dollar hitting T 200 from the current T153. Those saying that T153 for $1 is too much might have forgotten that back in 2002 and 2003 the exchange rate stood at T155.7 per $1. There is nothing extraordinary or scary going on in the market”. Mr. Marchenko added that “sometimes there can be some reasons of the Tenge devaluation, but now there no reasons. The country’s GDP keeps growing at 5%. The inflation rate is below the forecasted range of 6-8%, with the annual inflation rate standing at 5.9% in the recent months. The gold and FX reserves of the National bank and the National Oil Fund are stable; the country’s banking system enjoys sufficient liquidity; deposits of individuals are continuously growing. There are no grounds for devaluation”. He elaborated that “the two external factors that might have an impact on the national currency are oil prices and the ratio of the Russian rouble to the US Dollar. Oil prices stand at $108-109 per barrel, with the US Dollar standing at 33 roubles”.
Rumors of the national currency devaluation have been growing popular with common people, tengrinews.kz reports, citing the country’s Central Bank Governor Gregory Marchenko as saying.
“There is another wave of rumors and speculations. Following the devaluation back in February 2009, there have been 19 such waves. The spring time was quiet, with no such rumors around. Perhaps people have got bored. Unfortunately, in our country such rumors is a way to entertain oneself”, the banker said.
According to him, people who spread the rumor of the Tenge devaluation tend to think the following way: “Life is calm in Kazakhstan. But now we belong to the Customs Union [with Russia and Belarus]. The Russian rouble is devaluing, so devaluation of the Tenge is inevitable; prices for oil also tend to fall once in while”.
Mr. Marchenko calls to have a sober look at the situation: “When it comes to oil prices, they did fall in spring, but there were no rumor of devaluation. Now the price for oil stands at $108-109 per barrel. We are content with the price as the country’s current budget relies on the price of $90”.
As far as the FX market is concerned, “the situation is calm. A week ago there were rumors of the US Dollar hitting T 200 from the current T153. Those saying that T153 for $1 is too much might have forgotten that back in 2002 and 2003 the exchange rate stood at T155.7 per $1. There is nothing extraordinary or scary going on in the market”.
Mr. Marchenko added that “sometimes there can be some reasons of the Tenge devaluation, but now there no reasons. The country’s GDP keeps growing at 5%. The inflation rate is below the forecasted range of 6-8%, with the annual inflation rate standing at 5.9% in the recent months. The gold and FX reserves of the National bank and the National Oil Fund are stable; the country’s banking system enjoys sufficient liquidity; deposits of individuals are continuously growing. There are no grounds for devaluation”.
He elaborated that “the two external factors that might have an impact on the national currency are oil prices and the ratio of the Russian rouble to the US Dollar. Oil prices stand at $108-109 per barrel, with the US Dollar standing at 33 roubles”.