Kazakh president orders mandatory FX sales by state companies

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev ordered state-owned companies on Monday to start selling part of their foreign currency revenue on the domestic market to support the local tenge currency, his office said.

The tenge has lost about 14% of its value against the dollar since the collapse of the global oil producers' pact which sent the price of crude, Kazakhstan's key export, into free fall. In a meeting with his cabinet, Tokayev also ordered state-owned companies to start converting their foreign-currency deposits into tenge and payout up to 100% of last year's profits in dividends.

He further ordered a standstill on bank loan repayments by individuals and small- and medium-sized businesses for the duration of the state of emergency caused by the coronavirus outbreak, which is set to last until at least mid-April but may be extended.