Timur Suleimenov, head of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, said the regulator does not expect sharp fluctuations in the tenge exchange rate due to the temporary halt of oil exports via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). However, the National Bank is prepared to take measures if non-market exchange rate movements occur, reports infohub.kz.
During a National Bank briefing, a question was raised about the possible impact on the tenge exchange rate if Kazakhstan's oil exports via the CPC terminal do not resume, and how the regulator's policy would change accordingly.
Suleimenov noted that the Ministry of Energy and the government are monitoring the situation. He expressed hope that the issue would be resolved soon, as it concerns the free transit of Kazakhstan's oil, its export, and the inflow of export revenue.
"For now, I believe we are not facing any fundamental changes in operations. There are some issues related to certain tankers. I hope this will all be resolved in the near future. Overall, it's clear that the CPC is the main export pipeline, and therefore export currency earnings largely depend on its functioning. As I said, we do not foresee any major sharp fluctuations. But for any sharp fluctuations, we certainly have a set of response tools," said the head of the National Bank.
According to Timur Suleimenov, in case of sharp exchange rate fluctuations, the National Bank may use operations to mirror gold and foreign exchange reserves to stabilize the rate during sharp non-market movements.
It is worth noting that the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan hopes for the speedy resumption of Kazakhstan's oil intake by the CPC after drone attacks. About 80% of all oil exports from Kazakhstan go through the CPC.