Since July 1, 2026, a new Constitution has been in effect in Kazakhstan, where the national currency is spelled as 'теңге' in the Russian-language text. This has raised questions about spelling rules in official documents, media, and everyday communication, reports infohub.kz.
Prior to this, the spelling 'тенге' was used for decades in official Russian-language documents. This does not involve a monetary reform or change of currency — only the official spelling of the word changes in accordance with the new Constitution.
The Ministry of Justice announced that after July 1, state bodies must use the terminology enshrined in the Constitution. However, previously adopted documents, contracts, and regulatory acts that use 'тенге' retain their legal force and do not need to be revised.
The National Bank confirmed that it is bringing its regulatory documents in line with the new Constitution. The changes will affect, among other things, the forms of payment documents. The regulator will use the spelling 'теңге' in press releases and official communications. The National Bank emphasized that the changes are purely editorial and do not affect payment systems, transfers, or banking operations.
However, there has been no answer yet on how the currency name should be written not only by government agencies but also by the media, schools, universities, textbook authors, private companies, advertisers, and ordinary citizens.
As noted by the Language Policy Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Constitution has supreme legal force and direct effect throughout Kazakhstan. 'Therefore, in all texts in Kazakhstan, the word "теңге" should be written in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan,' the committee said in response to an official inquiry. Thus, for the first time, a clarification has been issued that applies not only to government documents but to any texts in general.
The question of writing monetary amounts using the word 'теңге,' 'тенге,' the abbreviation 'тг,' or the national currency symbol ₸ remains open. The Ministry of Science reported that state bodies are currently bringing regulatory legal acts into line with the new Constitution, after which this issue will be considered separately. Final rules are not yet available.
One of the first notable edits concerning the spelling of the national currency name appeared in the Tax Code. From July 1, the spelling 'тенге' will be replaced with 'теңге' in the document, including in the Russian-language text. This is a terminological correction related to bringing legislation into conformity with the new constitutional model.