BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 11. The imports’ impact on the exchange rate in Kazakhstan is due to generation of foreign currency demand by imports to pay for it, Azat Uskenbayev, director of the payment balance department at the country’s National Bank (NBK), said, Trend reports via the NBK’s press service.
“However, here it’s necessary to take into account the specifics of Kazakhstan, according to which some of the intermediate and investment imports are financed by foreign direct investments,” Uskenbayev noted. “Since these volumes do not pass through the domestic foreign exchange market, they don’t exert pressure on the tenge rate.”
According to him, the demand for foreign currency in the domestic market is generated by that part of intermediate and investment imports, which is purchased through fiscal expenses and business funds not backed by foreign investments, as well as consumer imports.
“The import of intermediate and investment goods, given the efficiency of further use of such goods, is justified, since it contributes to the development of domestic production,” the bank’s representative said. “Meanwhile, in terms of consumer goods, we see opportunities for import substitution and, as a result, reducing pressure on the exchange rate.”
“Some relatively simple goods, with efficient and rational use of resources, can be produced domestically. Such goods, for example, include sugar, apples, cheeses, sausages, poultry meat, household chemicals, clothes and shoes. So, in 2021, significant volumes of consumer imports were one of the main factors in the increased demand for foreign currency,” Uskenbayev said.