Kazakhstan tenge will be stable in February and March - Head of the National Bank

/IRBIS, Feb.07, 00/ - REUTERS cites Grigory Marchenko, head of the National Bank statement at the press conference. According to him, although tenge rate in February and March will be determined by the investments and export proceeds, the National Bank of Kazakhstan is confident in the stable tenge in any circumstances. "As we are ready to any script and our gold currency reserves exceed the cash in circulation, - there is calmness in the market and it will be, I think, in the nearest month." - Marchenko has told. Earlier the National bank has informed that the gross international reserves of Kazakhstan have made on January 31 $1.94 billion, money base on the same date has reached 105.7 billion tenges. According to Marchenko, the National Bank will adhere to the rather stable tenge effective rate and accordance between inflation and devaluation. Under the National Bank forecast, the annual inflation in 2000 will make 9.0%. Tenge average annual rate laid in the budget-2000 is 157.0 tenges per dollar. However in January, as he said, there was no strict accordance between devaluation and inflation. He not resulted the devaluation data, inflation made 2.6% in comparison with 1.7% in December (exchange tenge to dollar devaluation in January amounted to 0.82%, at the official rate - to 0.90% - note of IRBIS). The official tenge / dollar rate has decreased by January 29 to 139.45 tenges from 138.20 tenges on December 29, 1999. The National Bank did not promote tenge fall. It supported stable tende rate on the background of seasonal rise in food prices, increase in the natural monopolists tariffs, and large money appearance in the market, that is usually connected to the salary and pensions payments in the end of the year. "With all definiteness I can tell that in July - August there will be a stable tenge rate or even the certain tenge strengthening on the one hand and low inflation - on the other due to very clear seasonality, and it is possible to speak very confidently that from the middle of September to the middle of October there will be a dollar demand", - has told Marchenko. The National Bank, as he said, is going to keep tenge rate in the planned frameworks. He has advised to watch the situation on exchange, where within last three months the National Bank quotation, as a rule, were very close to the interbank quotations. "We, as the Central Bank, usually agreed with the market opinion when we see that it is objective. If we see that there are some speculative elements, we begin to interfere, to put the fences and the market agrees with us", - has explained Marchenko. He has added that the National Bank does has a purpose to make the strict "corridor, as "the main parameters are the monetary units, and the main result of the National Bank activity is inflation regulation".