Dollar demand falls in Kazakhstan as purchases drop by half over the year

In July, Kazakhstanis purchased 202.5 million worth of dollars in exchange offices — 1.5 times less than the previous month’s $306.6 million and half as much as the $404 million spent in July last year, according to the National Bank.

Exchange offices have not seen such low volumes since June 2023, when they sold $199 million. An even lower figure, $152 million, was observed in April 2023.

However, since last summer, the volume of dollar purchases has been increasing, reaching $495 million in December 2023. In January, the figures remained high at $395.5 million but soon declined, with purchases from February to June ranging from $301.8 million to $330 million.

Purchases of euros and yuan also saw significant declines. In July, Kazakhstanis bought €19 million, half of the €39 million purchased in June. Yuan purchases dropped to CNY75,600 from CNY4 million the previous month. The only foreign exchange with increased demand was the British pound, with purchases rising to GBP955,000 from GBP788,000.

Rubles became the only foreign exchange that people sold rather than bought. In July, individuals and businesses exchanged rubles worth RUB1.8 billion, up from RUB1.6 billion the previous month.

Currently, the dollar exchange rate is KZT480.59, up from KZT460.17 a year ago. The euro is priced at KZT536.58, compared to KZT496.48 in August 2023. The Chinese yuan is sold for KZT67.44, up from KZT63.12 a year ago. The Russian ruble’s value decreased over the year from KZT5.26 to KZT4.89.