Kazakhstan's central bank delays $910 million sale to curb tenge gains

Kazakhstan's National Bank has postponed the sale of $910 million, as the tenge fell 3% in October to 453.77 per dollar despite central bank currency injections. Average trading volume on the currency market was $397 million, down from the previous month, while total volume reached $8.4 billion.

At the government's request, the National Bank bought $910 million from the National Fund in October. It must now mirror these funds by selling their equivalent on the domestic market in stages, depending on market conditions, to avoid speculative jumps in the tenge. The bank said it observes the principle of market neutrality.

Under gold-purchase mirroring, the bank withdrew 302 billion tenge from the market, about $670.19 million at an average October rate of 450.62. A similar sale is expected in November. The bank made no FX interventions in October but bought $568 million for the ENPF pension fund. Net sales were $102.19 million, or 1.22% of trading volume.