Demand for dollars has increased after the tenge crossed the “psychological level” of 500 per dollar.
One of the three reasons for the currency’s decline is the weakening of the Russian ruble, the country’s government explained.
Kazakhstan’s currency has fallen to a record low of 530 tenge per dollar, despite the fact that the central bank has spent more than $1 billion on interventions in the past two weeks. This is reported by Bloomberg.
The Central Bank of Kazakhstan said that demand for dollars increased after the tenge crossed the “psychological level” of 500 per dollar following the collapse of the Russian ruble, the currency of Kazakhstan’s second largest trading partner.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy Nurlan Baibazarov said at an emergency briefing on December 2 that the tenge’s decline was caused by three factors.
The first factor is the global strengthening of the dollar index in recent months. The second, according to Baibazarov, is associated with some decline in world oil prices. And the third factor is the weakening of the Russian ruble.
“Given that Russia is our major trading partner, fluctuations in the ruble can affect the tenge exchange rate,” the official explained.
Recall that the Russian ruble has fallen by more than 24% since the beginning of August, when its decline began. New US sanctions against Russian banks led to a further decline in the ruble.
