Kazakhs Ramp Up FX Interventions as Russia Spillover Seen

Kazakhstan, which devalued its currency by 19 percent in February, ratcheted up its defense of the tenge in the wake of sanctions on Russia over Ukraine.

The central bank spent $700 million to stabilize the tenge on Aug. 1, when trading volumes reached a five-year high, with a “large market participant” selling about $500 million today, according to Halyk Finance. The Kazakh Prosecutor General’s office said Aug. 1 that information spread via social networks, media and text messages about a possible devaluation provoked a “rush” among people and resulted in the “threat of destabilization on the domestic currency market.” The central bank said there are no plans to devalue the tenge.