National Bank of Kazakhstan
Kazakhistani 50-Basis Point Central Bank Base Rate Cut Exceeds Expectations
October 23, 2026
The National Bank of Kazakhstan came word of a larger-than-anticipated half percentage point drop of the base rate to 15.75%, bringing the combined reduction since June to 225 basis points from a ceiling of 18.0% that had been maintained since October 2025. Consumer price inflation in Kazakhstan has fallen in each of the past twelve […] More
National Bank of Kazakhstan Base Rate Cut By 50 Basis Points
September 4, 2026
The National Bank of Kazakhstan’s scheduled policy review sent a mixed message, cutting the base rate by 50 basis points to 16.25% rather than 25 bps as was expected but also signaling hesitation against further reductions when looking ahead. The favorable dynamics of current inflation and inflation expectations created room to lower the base rate […] More
Another Shift in Perceived Likelihood of A Fed Tightening Later This Month
September 4, 2026
The U.S. labor market last month showed greater-than-anticipated strength. The pivotal factor behind what the FOMC ultimately decides will still be upcoming price data, today’s job market surprise packed enough punch to depress share prices, maintain elevated long-term interest rate levels, lift the dollar, and soften the prices of crypto and precious metals. The dollar […] More
25-Basis Point Central Bank Interest Rate Cuts in Russia and Kazakhstan
July 24, 2026
As expected, the Central Bank of Russia policy interest rate was sliced by another 25 basis points to 14.0% at today’s scheduled review. The rate has altogether been lowered so far this year by 200 basis points on top of the 500-bp reduction engineered in the last seven months of 2025. Officials released an explanation […] More
Trouble All Over
July 24, 2026
Resumed active conflict raged into a 13th day in the Middle East as Iran targeted U.S. military installations in the Gulf region. Scant traffic is getting through either the Strait of Hormuz or the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. On a separate front of mischief, plan B of President Trump’s tariff offensive was launched, imposing a 10-12.5% […] More
With No Fresh Shift in Middle East Crisis, Market Attention Shifts to Resilient Corporate Earnings Reports
April 24, 2026
The dollar slid 0.1-0.2% overnight against major currencies but rose 0.5% against the beleaguered Indonesian rupiah. Major U.S. equity indices were lifted by better-than-presumed first-quarter corporate profits in firms such as Intel, HCA Healthcare and Procter & Gamble. Among stock exchanges in other countries, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 1.0% higher, while India’s Sensex fell 1.3%. […] More
Middle East War Not Going As Well As Anticipated But the Dollar’s Doing Fine
March 6, 2026
The military conflict against Iran was supposed to be different from others like those involving Venezuela, Ukraine, Gaza, Iraq, Afghanistan, or to go back 60 years Vietnam. Most importantly, no ground troops would be needed, so U.S. casualties would be way down, and the risks were limited of it becoming endless, causing domestic economic pain, […] More
Davos Aftermath
January 23, 2026
Today was the last day of the annual World Economic Forum in Switzerland. While there been considerable relief that President Trump lifted his threat of a new round of sharp tariff hikes against Europe, a sour taste was left by the possibility that NATO unity has crossed a line from which it may never fully […] More
Larger-than-Expected Interest Rate Hike by National Bank of Kazakhstan
October 10, 2025
Kazakhistan faces a far different inflationary situation than Peru, and officials at the National Bank of Kazakhstan today made a statement of serious intention to counter price pressures by hiking their reference interest rate to 18.0%, higher than such has been in over a decade, from 16.5%. This latest increase followed ones of 100 basis […] More
Several Countries Release Price Data and Industrial Production
October 10, 2025
The dollar slipped overnight by 0.3% against the yen, 0.2% versus the Korean won and New Zealand dollar, and 0.15 relative to the euro, Swiss franc and Mexican peso. Notable stock market movements in Asia this Friday ranged from gains of 1.7% in South Korea and 0.9% in Taiwan to losses of 1.0% in Japan […] More
