Further Devaluation Off The Cards In 2009

Following the 18% devaluation of the Kazakh tenge in early February, the National Bank of Kazakhstan has since resumed management of the de facto dollar peg, with the unit trading close to the KZT150.00/US$ level. We expect the central bank to continue supporting the tenge through the short term, and as such, see little scope for the unit to substantially deviate from its current level. Supportive of our view, the NBK maintains a healthy stock of foreign currency reserves, totalling US$17.6bn in May, with which to actively manage the tenge.

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