October Budget Transfers to Surpass $1 Billion in National Fund Dollar Sales
The National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) is set to sell between $1.3 to $1.4 billion in currency from the National Fund in October, as per preliminary government requests for national budget transfers, according to The Tenge.
A significant portion of this amount, nearly three-quarters, will be allocated to the Unified Accumulative Pension Fund (UAPF) to help stabilize the exchange rate.
In September, the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange witnessed a rise in average daily trading volumes, going up from $210 million to $222 million monthly, with a total volume of $4.7 billion. One-fifth of this volume was attributed to currency sales from the National Fund.
A portion of the currency sales, ranging from $240 to $260 million, will come from gold and foreign exchange reserves associated with the National Fund’s shares in Kazatomprom National Atomic Company. In total, over $1.6 billion will be converted this month, marking the highest figure since October 2023.
To support the foreign currency share of UAPF pension assets, the NBK intends to purchase $850 to $950 million in October, following its acquisition of $500 million in September.
Meanwhile, the NBK’s Monetary Policy Committee opted to maintain the base rate at 14.25% on Oct. 11. September’s annual inflation saw a slight decrease to 8.3%, mainly due to lower food prices. However, financial market experts predict inflation to reach 8.4% by year-end, slightly higher than earlier estimates of 8%.
