National Bank of Kazakhstan

The Good Friday/Easter Break but Also Awaiting U.S. Jobs Data

April 7, 2023

Several markets in the Pacific Rim were shut today, including those in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Singapore. Most of Europe was closed for holiday. Good Friday is not a federal holiday in the United States, but while banks will be open, stock exchanges will stay shut, muting any response to U.S. labor […] More

Better-Than-Forecast U.S. Data Unsettle Investor Expectations Regarding December’s FOMC Decision

December 5, 2022

If it’s not one thing, it’s another. A major concern since the onset of Covid-19 has been the zero tolerance policies of the Chinese government to any instances of the pandemic. Investors have been relieved over the past month by increasing indications that such an extreme approach, which has smothered the Chinese economy, will be […] More

Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Namibia Central Bank Rate Changes

October 26, 2022

Officials at the National Bank of Kazakhstan raised their policy interest rate by 150 basis points to 16.0%, which is more than a 7-year high and which follows seven increases between July 2021 and July 2022 totaling 550 basis points. CPI inflation in Kazakhstan accelerated to a 75-month high of 17.7% in September from 16.1% […] More

Convergence of Fed-ECB Interest Rate Biases Sends Dollar Lower

October 26, 2022

The dollar has prospered throughout 2022 largely because the Federal Reserve had been seen as more aggressive in raising interest rates than the European Central Bank and other central banks. Today’s main market theme is that perhaps the monetary policy gap will not be as wide as thought previously. The ECB Governing Council will likely […] More

Analysts Surprised by Another Interest Rate Hike in Kazakhstan

July 25, 2022

  The National Bank of Kazakhstan, one of the former members of the USSR, became the latest central bank with a policy rate increase to fend off runaway inflation. The interest rate increase of 50 basis points to 14.5% follows earlier increases of 50 basis points in April, 325 basis points in February, 50 bps […] More

Last Week of July Starts with Equities and Bond Yields Rising and Dollar and Bitcoin Falling

July 25, 2022

The dollar fell overnight by 0.6% against the peso and sterling, 0.4% versus the ruble and Australian and Canadian dollars, 0.3% relative to the euro but rose 0.3% against the yen, 0.2% versus the Swiss franc and 0.6% vis-a-vis the Turkish lira. The weighted DXY dollar index is 0.4% softer. U.S. equity futures point to […] More

Macron Wins with 58.6% of the Vote but Recessionary Fears Extend Equity Losses Around the World

April 25, 2022

Although less than the 66.1% to 33.9% margin of victory in 2017, French President Macron was reelected, beating Le Pen by a greater margin than expected. His margin this time was still comfortable at 17.2% — 58.6% to 41.1%. Had Le Pen’s far-right National Rally captured the government, the unity of NATO against Russian aggression […] More

National Bank of Kazakhstan’s Policy Interest Rate Kept at 13.5%

March 9, 2022

Officials at the National Bank of Kazakhstan, a country which like Ukraine had been once part of the Soviet empire, had in emergency session raised their policy interest rate by 325 basis points on February 24, the day Russia invaded Ukraine. Consequently, at today’s scheduled policy review, officials did not move the interest further. Earlier […] More

A Day of Bottom-Fishing

March 9, 2022

It’s been a rough period for financial market participants since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. After large rises in sovereign debt yields, commodity prices, and the dollar juxtaposed against steep drops in equities, investors this Wednesday have taken their cue from the price of oil and pulled back from recent extremes. At $120.80 per […] More

National Bank of Kazakhstan Lifts Key Interest Rate by 325 Basis Points and to Over Five-Year High

February 24, 2022

In Kazakhstan, which like Ukraine had been part of the defunct Soviet Union empire, the central bank today hoisted its policy interest rate by a whopping 325 basis points to 13.50%. That increase follows hikes of 50 basis points in January and a trio of 25-bp moves in the second half of 2021. The Kazakhstan […] More

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