Monday February 7, 2000
Kazakhstan’s gross gold and currency reserves fell by USD 5.3 million (0.3%) between 14 January and 31 January, the National Bank (NB) reported. Reserves totalled USD 1.937 billion at the end of last month. This figure includes USD 1.428 billion in hard currency reserves, a drop of USD 6.9 million over the second half of January.
Monday January 24, 2000
According to international experts, Kazakhstan’s gross domestic product (GDP) will equal nearly USD 1,000 per capita in the year 2000, Interfax reported, quoting a speech by Deputy Prime Minister Erzhan Utembaev. The number, equivalent to about USD 15 billion, is “a bad figure”, according to Utembaev.
Monday January 17, 2000
The exchange rate of Kazakhstan’s national currency, the tenge, dropped 64.6% in 1999 (10.7% in 1998) to 138.25 tenge/USD 1 by the end of the year, the National Bank (NB) of Kazakhstan’s Chairman, Grigory Marchenko, said at a press conference. The tenge suffered its worst drop in value (30.3%) after it was allowed to float freely against the U.S. dollar on 5 April 1999. The exchange rate was 88.3 tenge/USD 1 at the time. Marchenko said that in the following months the soft decline of the tenge was the result of a relative currency exchange balance.
