NUR-SULTAN, January 11. /TASS/. The National Bank of Kazakhstan has decided to resume stock trading at the foreign currency platform of Kazakhstan Stock Exchange and exchange transactions in banks starting January 12, the regulator’s press service said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Due to stabilization of the situation in the city of Almaty and other regions, as well as a gradual recovery of communication channels the trading at the foreign currency platform of Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, exchange transactions of second-tier banks and non-bank exchange offices, as well as international payments and transfers will resume starting January 12, 2022," the statement said.
The National Bank pledged to ensure the balance of the forex market, if necessary, through participating directly and "carrying out foreign exchange interventions until the situation fully stabilizes and the confidence in the tenge of both domestic and foreign market participants fully recovers."
"In a move to support banking liquidity in addition to standard instruments the National Bank of Kazakhstan has started applying the mechanism of supporting liquidity through repo transactions on Kazakhstan Stock Exchange for up to three months. All demands of second-tier banks are fully satisfied," the financial regulator explained.
Protests erupted in several Kazakh cities on January 2, escalating into mass riots with government buildings getting ransacked in several cities a few days later. The ensuing violence left scores of people injured, with fatalities also being reported. Subsequently, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev turned to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) requesting assistance from the Russia-led bloc. As a result, peacekeepers have already been deployed to Kazakhstan. Law and order, Kazakh authorities affirm, was restored to all of the country’s regions by the morning of January 7. However, the situation remains tense in Almaty.