On the day Kazakhstan's National Bank announced a cut to its base rate, the exchange rate of the dollar rose by three tenge. At the close of foreign currency trading on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), the weighted average dollar rate stood at 451.05 tenge, infohub.kz reports.
The rate moved unevenly. Last Thursday the exchange rate of the dollar rose to 454.14 tenge, but it declined steadily over the following days and reached 447.94 tenge yesterday. The situation changed today, with the US currency recovering part of that decline.
As of 15:30, exchange offices in the country's major cities had set the following cash dollar buy and sell rates, according to data from the Kurs.kz portal. In Astana, the buying rate is 448 tenge and the selling rate 455 tenge. In Almaty, buying ranges from 448 to 452 tenge and selling from 452.3 to 455 tenge. In Shymkent, buying ranges from 451 to 451.5 tenge and selling from 452.3 to 453 tenge.
The euro rose by the same amount: its weighted average rate at 15:30 stands at 506 tenge. Exchange offices across the country set the following cash euro buy and sell rates. In Astana, buying ranges from 500 to 503 tenge and selling is 513 tenge. In Almaty, buying ranges from 498.5 to 506 tenge and selling from 507 to 510 tenge. In Shymkent, buying ranges from 503 to 505 tenge and selling from 506.5 to 510 tenge.
Recall that today Kazakhstan's National Bank cut its base rate from 16.25% to 15.75%. Banks in the country may now reduce interest rates on tenge deposits. If depositors consequently pay more attention to foreign currency deposits, this could play some role in weakening the tenge.