From January 1 to February 1, the dollar exchange rate decreased by 1.3% (by 6.97 tenge), reaching 518.14 tenge. This marked the first significant appreciation of the national currency since last autumn. A similar trend was observed only at the beginning of 2024.
Prior to this, the tenge had been weakening since mid-May, and by the end of the year, it had significantly declined – in November and December, the National Bank had to intervene for the first time since 2022, conducting currency interventions. In January, the decline continued, and on the 16th, the dollar rate hit a historical maximum of 530.24 tenge. However, it was after this that the tenge started to regain its positions and returned to December levels by the end of the month.
The National Bank attributed the currency's depreciation to high demand for dollars and the influence of external factors such as the strengthening of the US dollar, geopolitical instability, and fluctuations in export prices. To stabilize the situation, the regulator implemented a series of measures: it increased control over currency operations of banks, limited the spread in exchange offices, mandated companies to sell a portion of their foreign currency earnings, and introduced checks in financial organizations.
At the same time, it remains unclear whether interventions were conducted in January. However, it is known that the National Bank sold $850 million from the National Fund to finance the budget and the construction of the Taldykorgan-Usharal gas pipeline. In February, currency sales for state expenditures may amount to $550–$650 million, and around 250 billion tenge is expected to be sold, generated from gold sales. The regulator does not plan to purchase currency for pension assets at this time.