In May, the tenge strengthened by 1.2%

In May, the tenge strengthened by 1.2%

The National Bank did not conduct currency interventions in May.At the end of May, the tenge exchange rate strengthened by 1.2% to 447.71 tenge per US dollar against the background of the period of tax payments, the press service of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan informs. According to the National Bank of Kazakhstan, the average daily trading volume on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange for the month decreased from 152 to 144 million US dollars. The total trading volume amounted to 2.9 billion US dollars. Sales of foreign exchange earnings by quasi-public sector entities during the past month amounted to about 323 million US dollars. Quasi-public sector companies continue to independently sell on the foreign exchange market through second-tier banks," the ministry informed. Sales of foreign currency to ensure transfers from the National Fund to the republican budget in May amounted to 800 million US dollars. The share of sales from the National Fund amounted to 28% of the total trading volume and no more than 40 million US dollars per day. When conducting transactions with the funds of the National Fund, the National Bank observes the principle of market neutrality. This implies regular and uniform sales of foreign currency. This practice allows minimizing the impact of the National Fund's operations on the foreign exchange market. In order to maintain the foreign exchange share of pension assets of the UAPF at the level of 30%, the National Bank in May continued to purchase foreign currency at exchange auctions, the total amount of which amounted to 240 million US dollars or about 8% of the total market volume. At the same time, it is noted that the National Bank did not conduct currency interventions in May. In June, the actual volume of sales from the National Fund will depend on the applications of the Ministry of Finance for the allocation of transfers to the republican budget. Based on the available forecast guidelines of the Ministry of Finance on the amounts of necessary transfers, the National Bank plans to sell currency from the National Fund in the amount of 500 to 550 million US dollars in June. The purchase of foreign currency to maintain the currency share of pension assets of the UAPF in June is expected to amount from 200 to 250 million US dollars," experts predict.