OBLIGATORY EXPORTERS' DOLLARS SALE ON KASE IS CANCELLED

/IRBIS, Nov.15, 99/ - Head of the National Bank of Kazakhstan Grigory Marchenko has declared today in his speech at the II Congress of the republican financiers, that since November 15 the obligatory sale of half of the exporters' foreign exchange earnings on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) will be cancelled. In Marchenko opinion, the financial stabilization in Kazakhstan allows to undertake this step. In the third quarter export has grown in comparison with the first quarter of the current year by 58%. The payments balance of the country by results of the third quarter is positive. The inflation for 9 last months has not exceeded 14%, and the refinancing rate of the National Bank was reduced twice and today makes 18% a year. Tenge strengthening towards US dollar on exchange trades continues within last 1.5 months. "To prevent the further decrease of the dollar rate, we (the Bank) have purchased today on exchange $11 million", - has told Marchenko illustrating by this example a validity of that canceling. Grigory Marchenko also has noted, that after introduction of the tenge floating exchange rate the National Bank has considerably increased the gold-currency reserves and has essentially extend the money base. The President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbaev has told at the Congress, that Foreign exchange reserves has completely reached today a level of the beginning of 1999. According to the National Bank data, on November 12 the net gold-currency reserves have reached in the current prices of $1,281.8 million, the gross reserves - $1,797.1 million. The money base has reached on same date 92.8 billion tenges. Both the head of the National Bank and the President have noted an essential growth in the banks' deposits, despite of the economical crisis. The growth is observed both in a foreign currency, and in tenge. According to Marchenko, the National Bank "works hard" for valuation of the tenge actual rate toward US dollars. Results of this work, as Marchenko has told, will be published. These results will be used hereinafter at the valuation of the current market exchange rate. At the strong discrepancies the National Bank is going to correct a market rate. Grigory Marchenko has declared, that the National Bank will to adhere to a policy of floating exchange rate. At the same time he has noticed, that when the tenge rate oscillations will be stipulated by the speculative or stock- jobbing phenomena, the head bank of the country will render stabilizing influence on the market through the dollar or tenge interventions.