Kazakh National Bank to sell $350-$450 mln from National Fund in FebThe National Bank of Kazakhstan plans foreign currency sales from the National Fund between $350 million and $450 million in February.“Based on preliminary government forecasts and expected budget revenues, the National Bank plans to sell $350 million to $450 million from the National Fund in February to ensure transfers to the government budget,” the central bank said in a statement on Monday.In January, National Fund currency sales totaled $350 million in order to enable budget transfers. These operations accounted for 6% of total trading volume, with average daily sales of no more than $18.5 million.As part of mirroring operations, 350 billion tenge was sterilized in January. In February, the central bank plans to sell foreign currency equivalent to 350 billion tenge for the same purpose.The National Bank said it continues to adhere to a policy of market neutrality when conducting National Fund operations and mirroring transactions, implying regular and even sales. No foreign exchange interventions were carried out in January.Mandatory sales of foreign currency proceeds by quasi-public sector entities totaled about $206 million last month.In line with its previously announced plan, and given that foreign currency assets should account for more than 40% of the Unified Accumulative Pension Fund’s portfolio, the central bank did not purchase dollars for pension asset investments in January and does not plan to do so in February.The Tenge strengthened 0.9% in January to 501.24 per dollar. Average daily trading volume on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange fell to $306 million from $359 million in December, with total monthly turnover of $5.8 billion.The official exchange rate on February 2 stood at 501.02 tenge per dollar. (ICE ALMATY)

Fonte notizia: INTERFAX