On Friday, Kazakhstan's currency market reacted to external signals with a sharp weakening of the tenge: by the end of trading, the dollar rate had jumped by 9.24 tenge in a single day to reach 451.50 tenge. The surge was accompanied by a noticeable increase in trading activity — turnover amounted to $448.4 million, whereas just weeks earlier the national currency had been strengthening in the opposite cycle, reaching 438.9 tenge per dollar, according to infohub.kz.
The Association of Financiers of Kazakhstan attributes the move to pressure from external factors. Experts believe the key role was played by falling oil prices, which led to a broad global strengthening of the dollar index. These external circumstances, the association says, were the main reason for the tenge's weakening.
Specialists also allow that domestic demand may have contributed: amid the favorable rate, Kazakhstanis could have increased their currency purchases, adding further pressure on the tenge.
At the time of publication, the dollar on the exchange had already reached 451.6 tenge, gaining another 0.33 tenge from the previous level.
Earlier it was reported that the National Bank postponed planned dollar sales as part of mirroring operations with the National Fund — the reason cited was an excess supply of currency on the market.