Currency devaluation places Kazakhstan central bank under pressure

The central bank had spent $28bn propping up the currency in less than two years; equivalent to more than a quarter of the combined central bank reserves and national oil fund. The immediate result was a 23 per cent plunge in its value. The move was a boost to Kazakhstan's struggling resources sector. Officials argue that relatively few groups in Kazakhstan will suffer as a result of the currency fall: three-quarters of depositors held savings in dollars, while 70 per cent of company borrowings were in tenge before the move.