USD's exchange rate exceeds 362 tenges in Kazakhstan

/By AzerNews/

By Aynur Karimova

The exchange rate of Kazakhstan's national currency, the tenge fell to 362.62 tenges per USD during the morning trading session at the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange on January 12.

Kazakh media reported that the first deal of the morning trading session on January 12 was held at a price of 359 tenges per dollar. The minimum price was set at 358.5 tenges, while the maximum - at 367 tenges. Total volume of trading amounted to $82.9 million. The value of foreign currency in exchange offices amounted to 365-368 tenges.

Since early 2016, the exchange rate of Kazakhstan's national currency decreased from 340.01 tenges per dollar to 355.52 tenges per dollar on January 1 during the morning trading session at the KASE.

Kazakhstan's Central Bank had devalued the tenge three times since 1999. Over the past two years, the Kazakh national currency lost more than half of its value. In early 2014, the exchange rate of the tenge was at 154.06 tenge/dollar.

Kazakhstan, the largest oil producer among former Soviet republics after Russia, shifted to a floating exchange rate in August 2015 after the tumbling crude prices and devaluations in Russia and China.

In September and October 2015, the National Bank abandoned the transition to a free-floating tenge rate and started to sell currency instead. The bank’s share in the currency market reached 60 percent. Kazakh National Fund and the National Bank sold more than $5 billion in this period.

Meanwhile, experts predict a sad scenario for the tenge's fate. They believe that in the near term, oil will probably continue to fall and that willnegatively affect the tenge.